Settling In
by Sivol
Summary: ***ABANDONED*** I do not like the way this story turned out mainly because of how completely and utterly out of character I have made everyone. This story will not be picked back up. My apologies. I am, however, leaving it here for a reason; I may look back on it in the future and remember what not to do.
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N: **_This is a continuation of 'A New Reign'. Be warned before you start reading this, it is possible that I will not finish it. Basically I need some time off from 'Fabrications in Truth', and I thought a plot where I had a powerful Harry that I didn't need to explain how he got his power that high to begin with might be a good place to start, so I'm starting a sequel. **Read 'A New Reign' first or this will make no sense!**

**Chapter 1**

Severus was walking back and forth, or more accurately, pacing frantically. Harry was coming back today, via the port-key that Snape had sent to him with the latest update on Teddy and Alden. Teddy, who was now 2 years and 5 months old, but acting, speaking, and walking like a 3 year and 7-9 month old, was watching his papa pace around the room with a curious fascination. Over the last few weeks, the toddler had noticed the man becoming more and more worrisome and irritable. Alden, who was now 13 soon to be 14, was nervous as he had ever been. "Do you think he'll have changed?" The young boy asked.

"Most definitely. He's spent almost a year with a clan of werewolves and though we've been able to visit him three times thus far, it was only for a day at a time, so there really is no telling what kind of personality changes to expect or physical changes for that matter, especially since we'd last seen him over 5 months ago." Snape worried.

"But he's still Harry. Right?"

"From what I could tell in his last letter, yes."

"Daddy?" Teddy cooed, his attention focused at the door. "Daddy? DADDY!"

"Is Harry back yet?" Dudley called, running in to the sitting room looking around frantically. "I heard Teddy calling."

"I think Teddy's just anxious." Alden commented.

Dudley wrinkled his nose. "Draco and Charlie need to hur-"

"Need to what?" Draco asked, stepping from the floo within the room.

"Being a bit impatient are we?" Charlie asked with a smirk. "Where's Ron and the twins?"

"They're upstairs having Luna teach them how to properly bathe a baby." Dudley said with a grin of his own.

"Oh, how is Lillian by the way?" Draco asked.

"She's wonderful. Little darling's just absolutely adorable. Luna says if she's not a squib we should be expecting her first bout of accidental magic any day now." Dudley explained proudly.

"How old is she again?" Charlie inquired, flopping down on the couch.

"Be careful." Snape snapped, continuing to pace.

"Just over 2 months." Luna said in an airy voice. She came into the room with Lillian wrapped in a pink blanket and sat in the rocking chair that Snape had put in for her. Really, the man was incredibly nice, though you'd never guess it the way he talked and how he acted in public. He just didn't want to admit that he was really a good guy. Tall, dark, and broody seemed to fit him better.

Fred and George came out into the living room dripping wet with matching scowls on their faces. Charlie's hand flew to his mouth as he tried to stifle his laughter, and Dudley chuckled lightly as he pointed his wand at the two, drying them off. "That baby is a menace." Ron stated following his brothers, wiping his hair down with a towel.

"She's a terror." Fred added.

"An absolute horror!" George echoed.

Luna simply grinned. "I told you bathing a fussy baby was hard work."

"Now I know why mum always did the hard stuff and only had us kids change diapers." Fred mused.

"Speaking of Molly, where is she?" Draco wondered aloud.

"Can't make it until 4, she and dad have a meeting at the Ministry." George informed them.

"What about Bill?" Alden asked. Ever since Bill and Fluer had separated, Bill had been hard to reach and Fluer had been... well... vindictive to say the least.

"No one was able to get hold of him." Ron told the young boy.

"Daddy?" Teddy squealed, clapping his hands together. Just then, the front door to the Manor opened, and shut, then the door to the sitting room did the same. All eyes fixed on the figure entering. "Hermy not daddy." Teddy huffed, crossing his arms.

Hermione smiled sheepishly. "Sorry for the false alarm." She said.

A collective sigh went around the room. "It's fine." Charlie said with a scooch, moving closer to the arm of the couch and dragging Draco along with him so Hermione could sit down. "Where's Mr. Wonderful?" He asked.

Hermione frowned. "He won't be coming. In fact, he won't be coming to anything I do ever again."

"You finally came to your senses and left the bastard?" Ron asked.

The young woman gave a weak smile and tried to wipe the sadness from her face. "Yeah."

Ron's own face darkened. "'Mione, what did he do?" He demanded.

She shook her head. "I'd rather not get into that right now."

Ron knelt down on the floor and took her hand into his. "Listen, I know we might not be going out anymore, but I still care for you. Always have and always will. I will always look out for you. When I told you that I didn't like him at the beginning of your relationship, it wasn't jealousy speaking, it was his attitude. He came off just like someone else I used to know, and I didn't like it. I was worried Hermione. I was worried he was going to hurt you, hit you."

The young woman simply lowered her head while her hands trembled in his.

"He did, didn't he." Ron demanded.

She nodded very lightly, and let out a small yelp when she felt four pairs of arms go around her. Ron, Draco, Charlie, and Alden had wrapped her into a hug, as they were the closest. "We're going to make him pay." The twins called out together.

"You may have the honor of ripping his bits off." Fred offered with a bow.

"And you, dear brother, may enjoy the fun of transfiguring him into various objects to be kicked around, as per your specialty." George added, extending a hand to shake Fred's.

Hermione let out a sound that could have been a laugh or a cry, and her smiling mouth but sad eyes didn't help determine which it was. "Merlin I love you guys. Every single one of you." She said with a squeeze on Ron's hand.

"We love you too Hermione." Several of those present voiced out.

"If you even talk about going back to him, I shall be forced to keep you here locked in the bedroom you've all but claimed against your will." Snape informed her with a very serious look.

"Daddy!" Teddy squealed again, tilting his head as if he'd heard something. The group turned their attention to the toddler as he shakily stood and wobbled off to look at the door to the hallway. "Daddy daddy!"

Snape raised an eyebrow, a movement that was mimicked by several others, and watched as the boy apparently squealed at nothing. Their attention was drawn in the opposite direction by the sound of a snapping noise coming from the next room. "Daddy!" Teddy called again, drawing the group's attention back.

"Raaaaar!" Came an amused voice as a figure softly tackled a squealing and giggling Teddy then scooping him up quickly. The sudden noise and movement startled almost everyone, aside from Luna and Lillian.

"Harry!" "Potter!" "Har!" Voices chorused as the young man grinned alongside the laughing, squirming child.

"Merlin you've got big." He said, then glanced up and around the room at everyone. His eyes lit up when he saw all who had come. They all looked around in silence while everyone seemed to try and compose themselves.

Luna was the first to break the proverbial spell. "Harry, meet your niece." She said with a smile.

"You still think of me as a brother?" He asked the blonde woman while eying the baby in her arms.

"Absolutely. Plus, niece sounds better than second cousin. If Minerva can call Alden her nephew, then you can call Lillian your niece." She replied.

Harry's eyes shot up and he squeezed Teddy a tiny bit. "Lillian?"

"Named after Aunt Lily." Dudley told his cousin. "Her portrait loved the idea."

Harry sniffed a bit and gave the baby a good look, resting Teddy on his hip and using one hand to pull back the pink blanket. "She's beautiful." He whispered. Glancing up and looking around he gave a small hug to Luna, then to Dudley and made his way to Alden. "You've gotten bigger too." He said with a large grin.

"I'm almost 14 now." Alden said for lack of knowing what to say in these types of situations.

"Yes I know. You're growing up well from what Sev's letters have been saying." Harry beamed, wrapping the youth into a hug. "I loved the practice dummy you sent me by the way." He said with a chuckle. "Where ever did you get the idea?"

Alden laughed himself. "Mrs. Molly said I should give you something that I made myself, and Draco and Severus told me stories about how much you hated Minister Fudge."

"Well it was absolutely wonderful." Harry said, releasing the teen, who took Teddy with him. The young man shared hugs and pleasantries with the twins, Ron, Hermione, Draco, and Charlie as well before coming up on Severus. "Hello love."

"Hello." The older wizard replied with a scratchy voice.

"God I've missed you." Harry told the man, followed by a swallow of air and a shaky bottom lip that found its way into his teeth.

"I've missed you too." Severus replied, trying to slow his breathing and not show how he was actually shaking.

"Oh screw this." Harry said suddenly, throwing his arms around Severus' neck and engaging in a deep kiss.

Some 'awww-s' and giggles went around the room and Dudley smirked, shaking his head. "Not even home five minutes and there he goes, shoving his tongue down the man's throat again."

Harry and Severus broke apart slightly while the latter chuckled and the former outright laughed. Harry sniffed a bit again. "I've missed all of you so much." He said, turning his head to face the rest.

"Well you'll get to say that again later. At 4 Molly and Arthur are coming by, Percy at 5, Minerva at 6, and at noon tomorrow Minister Shacklebolt said he would be making a personal visit to welcome you back here at the Manor." Snape filled him in.

"What about Bill and Fluer?" Harry asked.

"Separated." The twins chorused.

"No one can find Bill-" George started.

"-and Fluer's being a big old b-word." Fred finished.

Alden rolled his eyes. "I keep telling them I hear worse than that every day in school, but they still censor themselves around me."

Harry chuckled a bit. "I think it's more to keep Teddy from repeating it, considering his language skills are moving right along."

"Teddy r'peat all da langage!" The toddler informed everyone, much to their amusement. "Whatsa b word?"

"Oh god." Harry laughed. "Ask me again in about 10 years."

"Okie." Teddy agreed, playing with his fingers.

"What time is it?" Harry asked.

"Almost 2:30." Hermione replied, checking her watch.

"Alright, I think I'm going to go take a shower before Molly and Arthur get here, then I'll fill you all in on what happened over dinner." Harry told them.

**(¯`·. Hp/Ss .·´¯)**

"So then, Macoval had me sleep on a giant leaf. An actual. Giant. Leaf." Harry told the group, who were listening intently.

"Was it comfortable?" Alden asked.

"Not in the least!" Harry told him. "Especially considering he'd had me transfigure it out of a rock beforehand."

Minerva chuckled. "That would make for quite some discomfort."

"You're telling me. I haven't slept on a proper bed in over 10 months!" The young man complained.

"Well not to worry, you'll be sleeping on one tonight." Severus assured him.

Litsy swung her little legs from the chair she was sitting in and grinned. The house elves had been invited to dine with everyone at the dinner table, and they were absolutely thrilled, especially considering they hadn't seen Harry in so long. "Did Master Harry cook a lot there?" She asked.

"Yes, in fact I did." He replied with a grin of his own.

"Good." The small elf said with satisfaction. "Now maybe Master Harry will let Litsy do her job."

Several of the group chuckled and Sloffy scolded the other elf teasingly. "What happened after the leaf?" Hermione asked.

"Well, the next bit they had me doing was stealth training. I had to learn to walk around with bells tied to my ankles, wrists, and neck, without ringing a single one of them. It was supposed to last about 2 weeks, but it wound up taking 3. Luckily the blade training only took one week instead of the 2 it was supposed to, so everything went back on track."

"So that's how you got in here with no one noticing." Draco mused.

"Teddy noticed." Harry informed them with a nod to the toddler, who was playing in his mashed potatoes. Harry's finger went to his nose and up the ridge of it before he scowled at his hand.

"What was that about?" Dudley asked.

"Oh, it's habit. I wore glasses for so many years that I keep trying to push them up, but no one realizes that's what I'm doing because I don't wear them anymore. I'm wondering how long I'll keep doing that before my hand realizes that there's nothing there to push." Harry told them.

"Alright, after the blade training." Molly prompted, getting them back on track.

"Right. Then, Tamara had me act as a midwife for the new mothers in the clan once March came around." He told them. "I tell you, there's nothing scarier than watching a female werewolf during her transformation giving birth to a baby werewolf, and watching that baby transform as it came out of her."

"Oh that's so not dinner conversation!" Alden cried out, holding a spoon filled with soup halfway up to his mouth.

"Generally speaking, there's nothing more frightening than a mother in labor deary." Molly told him.

"You can say that again." Dudley said. "Luna was absolutely scary when she was having Lillian."

The airy blonde smiled and looked down to the baby she had cradled in her arms, then back to her husband. "But you stayed with me even when I shot hexes at you."

"Bet you were glad I made you study so hard on those shielding spells." Hermione said to Dudley.

"Yes Ma'am I was." He told her, then turned his attention back to Harry. "What happened after the midwiving?"

"Well, they taught me how to track via sound and sight. Mostly it was Macoval and Jericho trying to figure out how to make my magic make my sight and hearing better, but I did learn some interesting techniques that don't require them on how to track a person's magical signature." Harry said with a bit of pride. "Then Perecles started sleep training."

"They trained you to sleep?" George asked incredulously.

Harry laughed a bit. "No no, not at all. They trained me to be aware of my surroundings, even in sleep. Basically, they would sneak up on me while I slept and pin me down until I learned to tackle them before they got to me while not appearing to awaken until the very last second. That actually started around December, but didn't start getting anywhere until April. Around mid-April I was deprived of sleep, and I learned how to fall asleep within 3 minutes of 'being allowed'. So basically, I can now make myself sleep and wake up whenever I so choose. Oh and I don't toss and turn at snoring anymore. I had to learn to block it out because nearly half the clan were very loud snorers and every single house had at least one person who snored, so I couldn't escape it."

"I don't like hearing that they deprived you of anything." Snape said, glaring at his steak.

Harry slipped a hand to the man's leg and smiled. "I know you don't, but it was for the better. Plus they took extra good care of me after they would deprive me of something. To make up for it. Tamara felt awful every time something like that happened and would stuff me with sweets for nearly a week afterward."

"Daddy?" Teddy called, his potato covered hands pausing mid-wiggle.

"Yes Teddy?" Harry asked.

"Lane." The toddler told him, much to everyone's confusion.

"What's a lane?" George wondered.

"Don't suppose he means a lane like an aisle, does he?" Ron asked.

"Shh." Harry stated with his finger pressed to his lips as he tilted his head to the side. The group watched as he listened to the silence and a smile spread on his face. "Yes Teddy, very good." He congratulated.

"What in the world are you on about?" Draco asked.

"Lorraine." Harry informed them, bringing a dinner roll to his mouth and smiling as he bit into it.

"Lane." Teddy repeated.

The group exchanged confused glances, then a knocking came to the Manor door. Lorraine's voice called out as she opened the door. "Is Harry back yet?"

"Good lord woman, you are incredibly late." Snape said as she made her way into the dining room.

"Yes I know, but you know how it is with Roger, he can't seem to live an hour without me." She said while dismissively waving a hand and taking a seat next to Percy. "How'dya do love." She said, extending a hand.

"Well, and yourself?" Percy asked politely giving her hand a shake.

"Pretty decent. Right then, I'll get filled in on what I missed later, continue on." She said with a grin.

Harry chuckled at the woman. She had been coming over quite a lot during his time away and he was glad she had, else Severus might have gone bonkers while he was on vacation. "Well, then once May rolled around we started working on using my left hand for things. They actually wound up wrapping my right hand in fabric and tying it to my torso so I couldn't use it. Thanks to that though, I can now use my left hand to cast spells, use objects, and generally exist as well as my right. However the writing is still completely illegible with that hand."

"Give us a demonstration please." Alden asked, his eyes sparkling.

Harry flicked his right hand in a sharp movement causing the hidden wand to slide out and grabbed it with his fingers before it could fall to the floor, grabbed it with his left hand, and gave a thoughtful look. He pointed the wand at the floral centerpiece and glanced to Severus. "That's not a priceless heirloom or an ancient magical artifact, is it?" He asked.

"Not at all, have at it." The older wizard replied.

Harry nodded. "What shall I turn it in to?"

"A stuffed bear!" "A bath boat." "A toy car." "A chicken!" Several voices called out.

Ron glanced at Luna who was grinning madly. "A chicken?" He asked her.

"Oh yes." She replied. "A chicken from a bouquet of flowers would be marvelous."

"Yeah, but it's on the table, it would freak out and cause a mess." Charlie told her.

"You're right. Not a chicken then." She amended, shifting Lillian slightly who was peering around at everyone curiously.

Harry grinned. "A stuffed bear it is." He said, giving a swift flick of his wand as a pink nearly liquid stream of light burst forth from it and engulfed the centerpiece, transfiguring it into two adorable, soft, squishy stuffed bears, one blue and one pink. He levitated them both and set the pink one down in front of Luna for Lillian and sat the other down in front of Teddy, quickly casting a charm to keep them both clean, and following with a small scourgify to clean Teddy up from his mashed potato mess.

"I would definitely say your left-handed wand wielding has improved a great deal." Snape commented while the corner of his mouth quirked up.

"Indeed." Harry, Alden, and Minerva commented simultaneously, causing the three of them plus Severus to chuckle in amusement.

"Actually, I barely need my wand anymore. I only use it because it's faster, and for spells I've never done before to get the hang of them." Harry told then.

"Jealous!" Ron cried out with a scandalized look.

Harry grinned. "I can try to teach you later if you want. Over the Christmas holidays or something when I have a break from teaching." He said, to most everyone's astonishment. He gave a pointed look to Minerva. "That is, if the Defense post is open this year."

The woman smiled as brightly as Severus had said she would if he offered. "Of course it is Harry, the last DADA professor was a hack-job. You were the absolute best we've had in half a century. We will gladly welcome you back, as long as you promise not to run off again."

"Then consider it done. I don't think I could survive another year without my family, and that goes for all of you here. Even you Lorraine." Harry told them.

"YES, no more Mr. Dedworth!" Alden cried out happily.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"Severus?" Harry asked to the waking form beside him.

"Harry." Severus replied sleepily and unusually happily.

"I've something I need to tell you." The young man stated. He had been home for a little while now, and today was the first day they were opening their doors to the public for the yearly side-practice.

Snape cracked an eye open. It was still quite dark outside, and he was astonished to know that so many more people were willing to help with that practice. This year he had himself, Harry, Lorraine, Draco, Dudley, Charlie, and Alden, while Luna was to stay with Lillian and Teddy while conversing with the other mothers to put them at ease. They had all been practicing over the last 3 days and Snape was again amazed that not a single one of them wanted money for their time. Not even Draco, and that was a first. He'd always demanded payment before. Charlie was good for him. "Conversations that start like that rarely end well."

"Yeah, well, you're right. I don't think this will end well." Harry admitted.

Severus raised his body up and blinked the sleep from his eyes. "You haven't started having second thoughts about us have you?"

"Good lord no!" Harry stated. "I'm not loony. No. It's nothing to do with us, or the family. It's all me."

"Well, out with it."

The young wizard sighed. "While I was with the Liridon clan we did a lot of hunting. They didn't exactly have grocers, butchers, or anywhere that we could go to get food, so we hunted. I've killed quite a lot of animals in the hunt for food."

The older man popped his neck and glanced to his husband. "That's nothing to be ashamed about. It was for food, something you needed to survive."

"That's not what it is. Sev, I was actively killing something every week. For 11 ½ months, I shed the blood of another living being. Every. Single. Week. I'm worried. I'm scared that now those weekly release session in the Room of Requirement simply aren't going to cut it anymore. The thrill of the hunt, the rush of the kill, it's a craving almost. A very frightening craving... I can actually understand now why Voldemort went crazy. I tried to stop hunting while I was with them and explained it to them, and I felt so awful after the animals died. Not awful because they died, I mean let's face it, needing food is kind of up there on the list of necessary evils. I felt awful because I enjoyed the act of killing. Severus, what if I can't control it? What if the release sessions don't stop the urge, and I wind up hunting people?"

Snape looked seriously at his lover, then pulled the young man into an embrace. "If, and I'm saying _if _now, if you get to the point that the release sessions don't stop the urge, we will figure something out. You'll be okay Harry. I won't let you turn into Voldemort."

"I'm scared... Not just for me, but for you too. I mean, something I didn't quite think about when I went into this was what might happen if I lose it again. I mean now, I'm a lot better fighter than I used to be, and now I can really fuck you up. I don't want to hurt you, I don't want to ki-"

"Shush. How many times did you lose it in the year you spent over there?"

"It was 11 ½ months, not a year."

"I'm rounding it off and you're avoiding the question. How many times?"

"Only twice..."

"And they both happened within the first two months, and I was able to pull you out of it both times. Meaning for 9 ½ months, you controlled that part of yourself marvelously. Yes you are a better fighter, yes you are probably stronger than I in ways I've never imagined now, but you are also capable of keeping yourself from going over the edge. If it does happen, if you do somehow manage to lose that control, I will not hesitate to step in and stop you. You have always stopped before you harmed me badly before, and I fully believe you will be able to do it again, should the situation arise."

"Thank you Sev." Harry whispered, giving a kiss to the man who was wrapped around him.

"Actually, I take that one part back. I have no intention of stopping you if we're going after someone like that Muertof fuck again." Severus amended.

Harry chuckled, then stopped abruptly. He listened for a second then settled his head into his husband's chest. "Alden's coming."

A knock came to the door and Snape smirked into Harry's hair. "Yes Alden?"

"How'd you know it was me?" The young man asked.

"Because you walk a certain way." Harry called out. "Come in."

Alden opened the door with a curious look. He walked in and plopped down on the bed, grinning from ear to ear as his parents looked on at him curiously. "Today's the day."

"Oh? And what day is that?" Harry teased.

"You know! The day that we start opening our doors for everyone. I get to stay up 3 days in a row!" Alden said triumphantly.

Harry laughed. "It's not all it's cracked up to be. I bet you'll be complaining by the time midnight rolls around."

"Will not." Alden huffed.

"I tried to get him to sleep when Luna sleeps, but he seems to think that he'd rather stay up the entire three days and share in our 'pepper-up-parties' as he calls them." Snape informed the young man.

"Mmm, well if he wants, I say we let him." Harry concurred, then glanced to Alden. "Which means that you are to stay up for the entire three days, with three meal breaks each day, no sleep, no naps, and running on potions. If you want to learn the hard way, then you will, and maybe next year you'll have some sense and sleep while you can, because once you hit 17 you won't get the luxury of sleeping during these three days every year."

"I'll be able to stay up without a problem." The teen assured them both. Severus and Harry shared an amused look.

**(¯`·. Hp/Ss .·´¯)**

"Your name please." Charlie asked.

The woman in front of him looked around in a slight bewildered state. "What is going on here?" She asked.

"Uhhh..." Charlie blinked a bit. "We are keeping the doors to the manor open for three days, we're on day 2 by the way, passing out herbal remedies for those who need them at no charge. The only requirement is that you fill out a form if it's your first time here so we can keep notes on what types of medicine you need. And to please have a muffin because they're absolutely delicious and everyone should try one at least once."

The woman let out a smile of relief. "Oh it's Mr. Snape's side-practice. Why didn't you just say so?"

"Uhhhh." Charlie repeated.

"Mrs. Balfit!" Harry cried out in surprise. "What are you doing here?" He asked.

"Well, the adoption sect sent me by to re-assess Ted Lupin's living conditions. Mr. Shacklebolt had tried to tell them it wasn't necessary, but even a man in his position can't escape the law."

"Oh that was sweet of him, but he really didn't need to try to convince anyone of anything, we don't mind you checking back in. Is there a particular reason, or..." He let his voice trail off.

"Your return is the occasion. When you had informed me last time of your later departure, I had to write it up in my report, and they sent me back when you came back to do a re-assessment." She explained.

"Well I guess it's to be expected, after all, not many adoptive parents go off to live with a clan like that for a year." Harry mused, minding his words around the muggles.

"Excuse me, Mr. Potter? Is that you?" A young girl interrupted.

Harry blinked a bit then glanced down at her. "Yes, what can I help you with?"

She grinned widely. "It's really you... Is... Is Mr. Snape around?" She asked excitedly.

Harry gave a confused look and nodded. "Yes he is, I can take you to see him if you'd like."

"I'd love that!" She exclaimed, grabbing on to his hand. "I'm going to see Mr. Snape with Mr. Potter!" She called over her shoulder to a smiling woman, who nodded at them. Anita followed, curious as to what was happening.

Harry, Anita, and the small girl slipped in to the room where Severus was administering a potion to an elderly man. "I'll give you some to take home with you, and remember, one tablespoon a day for three weeks. Got it Mr. Finkley?" Snape asked.

"Got it Dr. Snape." The man replied. "Thank you kindly."

"Yeah, get on." The dark wizard said. "Harry- Mrs. Balfit, what a surprise. What brings you around?"

"I've come to re-assess the living conditions for Teddy pending Mr. Potter's return." She stated, then glanced down to the girl. "But I believe this little darling wishes to speak with you first."

"Hello." Snape said crouching down at eye-level with the girl. "What brings you here?"

She squealed and pulled Harry down by the arm, wrapping her arms around both of their necks. "Thank you! Thank you both so much!" She said, squeezing them tightly.

"You're quite welcome." Harry said, semi-confused. "What did we do?"

Severus' eyes widened. "Mary? Is that you?" He asked, pulling away and looking the girl in the eye again.

"Mary?" Harry exclaimed. "Little new witch, Accio glasses, bear hitting Dudley in the head Mary?"

"You remember me!" She squealed, hugging them both again.

Harry's eyes quickly became watery and he hugged her back while Snape just stayed where he was, stunned. "Oh my god I never thought I'd see you again!" Harry told her.

"Helen, Mrs. Dunstan my adoptive mum, and the Ministry man who worked with us helped me track you down. I never got to thank you for helping me." She told them.

"What are you, 9 now?" Harry asked, looking her over.

"Yes." She said with a smile. "Helen says in 2 years that Mr. Snape will be my professor at Hogwarts."

Harry gave a grin. "So will I. I'll be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"Really?" She asked in an astonished way. "You'll both be my teachers? I can't believe it. First you save me from that... place... then you'll be my teachers."

"You remember us..." Snape finally said.

"Of course I remember you. It might have been two whole years ago, but I was old enough to remember the people who saved me when mummy left me here."

"I was so sure you would forget who we were." Severus admitted to her.

"I could never!" She said with a shocked look.

"You've changed so much in the last 2 years. You hair's red now." Harry commented.

Mary grinned. "Yeah, that's a glamour that Helen put on me. We had tried out different hair colors until we found the one I liked best. She wouldn't let me have pink though, but red was the next best thing."

A knock came to the door, which opened directly afterward. "Dr. Snape, Ms. Vimes is up next." Lorraine told them.

"We have to get back to work Mary." Severus told the girl, then stood and looked to Harry. "Tell Mrs. Dunstan that she and the family can come back Thursday if they want, around noon." He ordered.

"I've got to admit-" Helen said when the three returned. "-when she started telling tales of being left in someone's manor with so many people running around and a doctor who gave out free medicine, I was skeptical to say the least."

"Well that's understandable, I mean how often do you hear about something like that happening?" Harry agreed.

"I've really got to thank you though. Without you and Mr. Snape, Corin and I wouldn't have little Mary with us now. We absolutely love her."

"No thanks necessary, it's really something that anyone in that position should do."

"Well, thank you anyway." She said with a smile.

"Severus said you and your family could come by on Thursday around noon if you like." The young man offered.

"We won't be able to, I'm sorry." Helen replied, which had Mary pouting. "We're moving in a few days, and we've got to get to work shrinking our belongings."

Harry's eyes widened and his hand made a very sharp, very quick movement. Everything got quiet for them. "Sorry, I had to cast a muffling charm. Most everyone here are muggles, and talking about wizarding things could very well turn out badly."

"Oh I'm sorry, I didn't know. I mean I knew Mary's biological parents were muggles, but I figured this might be an integrated community, what with- wait..." She furrowed her brow a tiny bit. "You just... both... wordless and wandless?" She asked in astonishment.

"Yeah." Harry admitted, looking a bit uncomfortable.

"Mr. Potter... Oh Merlin! You are _Mr. Potter_. **The**, Potter, oh my lord. You're Harry Potter." Helen said with a hand flying up to her mouth.

Harry winced a bit. "Yeah that would be me."

"Wait." Mary said with a confused look. "You're the one who killed the snake guy Corin told me about?"

"Oh god... Yeah I am." Harry admitted again.

"I can not... Words can... Oh my... I don't know what to say, or if I should apologize or what I should do." Helen told the young man.

How Harry hated this part of being who he was. He had hoped after spending a year with the werewolves that people might forget about him. It seemed he wasn't that lucky. "Don't worry, I'm just a normal wizard, masquerading as a muggle sometimes."

"You are so humble." The woman stated with amazement. "You are the most powerful wizard of our time. Possibly the most powerful since the founders era."

After a very long and awkward conversation, the woman finally left with her daughter. Harry and Mary had exchanged hugs again, and Helen had calmed down a bit, thank goodness for that too. Anita, however, was fixated on the ease in which Harry performed his magic, both wordlessly and wandlessly. Truth be told, she knew she was going to have to come back after they closed their doors to the town again, and there no reason to stay here today as they were fairly busy and unable to do much with a reassessment, but she really liked these people. They were one of two families that actually did help their community like so many of the adoptive parents she met claimed to do.

**(¯`·. Hp/Ss .·´¯)**

"That was EXCRUCIATING!" Alden complained, slumping down into a chair after the last person left on the third evening.

"We need to get some sleep guys. Mrs. Balfit's coming back tomorrow." Harry told everyone.

"I'm going to sleep with Mrs. Luna and the babies next year." Alden informed them. "I don't like staying up for 3 days."

Severus snorted lightly in amusement. He'd tried to tell the boy, but noooooo, Alden wouldn't hear any of it. "That's good to hear, because I think I can't put up with you for three days without sleep again. I might wind up sticking you to a wall in the back of the manor somewhere."

"Well it's nice that our home is ours again." Harry mused. The only ones left there were Harry, Severus, Alden, and Teddy. Everyone else had gone to their respective homes.

"Quite." Severus agreed.

"Absolutely." Alden added.

"Daddy dance!" Teddy demanded.

Harry groaned. "You have got to be kidding me. Teddy, daddy can't dance now. Daddy is sleepy."

"Daddy sleep."

"Yes, daddy sleep." Harry agreed.

"Papa dance!" Teddy tried.

"Papa sleep." Snape called out.

"Aldy dance?" Teddy asked.

"Let's all sleep." Alden said.

"Teddy not sleep." The toddler stated assuredly.

"Teddy better sleep, or Teddy will get a bit of a sleeping potion." Severus stated.

"No!" Teddy said, crossing his arms.

"Yes." Severus and Harry said together.

"NO!" Teddy screamed.

"I guess this is what they mean by the 'terrible twos'." Harry thought aloud.

"According to Minnie it gets far worse than this." Snape informed the young man, who groaned in response. "Time for bed."

"No no no no no!" Teddy chanted again. This was going to be a long night.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"I'm sorry dears, I just can't help out with little Teddy until November 1st." Molly told Harry and Severus from the floo. "None of us can find Bill and he hasn't checked in since April, when he and Fluer separated. He calls every month without fail, but just not the last few. We're extremely worried, and Arthur is taking some time off of work so we can go to France and look for him. It's just not like him to do something like this."

"Don't worry Molly, I understand. I hope you find him, I really do." Harry consoled. They shared goodbyes and Harry glanced to Severus. "Shall we try Luna?"

"Yes, she may be our last hope." The older wizard said with an impassive face.

Harry nodded and tossed some floo powder into the fire, calling out for the Lovegood residence. "Hi, is Luna there?" He asked the answering house elf.

"Yes Sir, Polly will go get Mistress Luna." She replied.

Moments later, Luna's head appeared in the fireplace, as well as Dudley's. "Harry? Is everything alright?" The young woman asked.

"Not really, we start back at work Monday and we need someone to watch Teddy during school hours come September."

"What happened with Mrs. Molly?" Dudley asked.

"She and Arthur are going to France to look for Bill, he's missing." Severus explained.

"That's awful, I hope she finds him." Luna commented. "I'm sorry Harry, but we're both working now, and Lillian stays with my dad during the day. I can ask him if he'd watch Teddy too if you'd like." She offered.

"No, he's too far out since he can't be reached by floo. I don't really like it when Teddy's more than a floo-trip away." Harry admitted. "Thanks though."

"No problem. I hope you find someone." Luna offered. They shared their goodbyes as well, and Harry slumped back into his chair.

"Who else do we know that's good with kids?" Harry pondered aloud.

"What about Aunt Hermione?" Alden offered.

"No, she's studying at that muggle college in America now, she needs the time for her school." Harry supplied.

"Uncle Ron?"

"I fear he wouldn't know how to handle a toddler for more than an hour on his own." Severus told them.

"You're right. He's great with infants and children, but toddlers are way to much for him." Harry said with a sigh.

"Uncles Fred and G-"

"No." Harry and Severus both called out at the same time.

"It was just a suggestion." Alden said sheepishly. "They're not so bad."

"Yes, but you are a teenager. You know right from wrong and you've a good head on your shoulders. Their pranks could seriously do some harm if Teddy got hold of them." Severus explained.

"What about Uncle Percy?" Alden suggested.

"Well, he is a floo-call away." Harry said thoughtfully.

"And he is an intelligent person capable of handling a toddler." Severus concluded.

"But he is on another continent." Harry said with a wrinkled nose.

"And I don't quite fancy our son growing up to be a snob." Severus added.

Harry sighed again. "Macoval and Tamara are out of the question as well, they can't be reached by floo. Not to mention the house elves have far too much on their plate as is. Minerva is a no go unless it's an emergency, considering she's Headmistress and all."

"Poppy's out of the question as well, being a Medi-Witch in the school's infirmary. So is Lorraine, because she can't take care of a toddler and Roger at the same time." Severus noted.

"It looks like we're going to have to work something out with Minnie then." Harry said with a sigh.

**(¯`·. Hp/Ss .·´¯)**

"Well what would you do with Teddy during the other five blocks?" Minerva asked the men sitting in front of her. They had requested that Severus have first block for his free period, and Harry have second so they could take care of Teddy in the mornings.

"I was thinking that I could have him in a safe area within my classroom since my schedule has Ravenclaws and Gryffindors together for third block all throughout the week." Harry offered.

"And during fourth block when the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs have Potions together I could have him in my office with a constant monitoring charm over him. Those two houses work much better together in Potions than any other pairing I've seen, which by the way Friday's schedule could be switched around a bit to have them together on fourth and stick the Slytherins and Gryffindors on fifth block instead so as to make it even throughout the week." Severus tried.

"Alden has fifth block free, so he could take care of Teddy during that time. As for sixth, and seventh block... we have no idea." Harry said with a sigh.

"Boys, I don't think this is going to work out very well." Minerva told them bluntly.

"Well what do you suggest we do Minnie?" Harry pleaded. "We've already tried everyone we know who is good with children his age, but they're all too busy. Molly can't help out until she and Arthur come back in November. That's 2 months we will be without a sitter."

"Well, have you tried Draco and Charlie?" Minerva asked, not recalling hearing them mention the two in their list of people they'd tried.

"Draco never crossed my mind as someone who would be willing to take care of a toddler." Harry admitted.

"Charles is good with Teddy." Severus admitted.

"Well, we could ask." Harry offered. "Minerva, can we use your floo?"

"Of course." The Headmistress replied, handing a bit of floo powder to the young man.

After calling out for the Malfoy residence, speaking with a house elf, and finally getting Draco to come to the fireplace, Harry set in. "Hey Draco, how much do you love us?"

"That depends... what do you want me to do?" The blond asked warily.

"Well you see, we've been asking around and Molly's sai-"

"Just get on with it." Draco interrupted.

"Right... Will you and/or Charlie take care of Teddy for us during the school hours until November starts when Molly can take over again?" Harry asked.

"Absolutely. Why didn't you say so earlier?" Draco inquired.

"Well, to be quite honest, I wasn't sure you'd be willing."

"Potter, you should know me better than that by now. I'm not the type of person to turn down family just because of a little thing like work." Draco chided.

"Really..." Harry mused skeptically.

"Well, alright yes I am. But not you guys. I mean if it were just you and you'd never gotten engaged and married to Uncle Sev, then yea I'd probably turn you down, but when you two got engaged it changed everything. It showed that you really did care about him, weren't using him to get laid or some such bull, and it made him happier than I'd ever seen him. So yeah. I'd do work for you guys."

"And Mum and Dad." Charlie called out from behind him.

"Yes, and the Weasleys Senior. Because they're his family, and I quite like them as well. Not to mention they'll be my family legally in about 3 months."

"Thanks for that by the way." Harry said. "It really does mean a lot that you postponed your wedding until I got back."

"Actually that was Charlie's idea. I'd have just went on with it without a second thought." Draco admitted.

"Well I'm glad you're honest." Harry said with a chuckle.

"Right. What times are we keeping him, and how's he getting back and forth?" Draco asked.

"Monday through Friday from 7 am to 4 pm. Starting Friday September 1st, and ending October 31st, whatever day that comes on." Harry told him.

"Wednesday." Minerva supplied.

"Right. Wednesday. He'll be going by floo, I can bring him to you in the mornings, and Severus can come get him in the afternoons." Harry offered.

"Sounds reasonable." Draco mused.

"No pranks from the twins aloud around him." Severus said sternly.

"I wouldn't let that happen." Charlie called out from behind the young man.

"Right. Thanks a lot." Harry said.

"You're welcome." Draco replied.

"By the way, you might want to slip into 'Lord Malfoy' mode tomorrow." Harry told the other young man.

"Oh? And why is this?" Draco asked, his interest highly piqued.

"Well you see, Minister Shacklebolt came by the day after I came back, as you know."

"Yeah..."

"And he said he'd send me an owl as he wanted to set something up. Well I received the owl today, and he kind of wants me to come by with Severus, and you plus one guest, you should be getting your owl by 6 tonight, to the Ministry, tomorrow at noon. But there's a problem."

"Which is..."

"It's a lunch thing for the wealthiest Lords and Ladies of the Wizarding Community in the UK. Now, were I simply titled Lord Potter, I'd not be invited, but as I am the Black Heir, that wealth with the Potter Fortune accumulates to... well, a lot."

"And the problem is..."

"I have no clue how to act at this kind of lunch thing meeting with rich hoidy toidy loons who think they're better than everyone else." Harry admitted, causing Draco and Severus to smirk and Minerva to chuckle.

"So you need me to teach you how to act like a proper aristocrat for a 'Lord's Luncheon', which by the way, is its proper name." Draco summarized.

"Yeah."

"Well first off, don't call them 'rich hoidy toidy loons', and don't say that they think they're better than everyone else. While they're both true, they are not polite conversation points. Save that till you get away from them. If it's okay with Minnie, I'll be there tonight to help you."

"It's fine with me." The Headmistress said with a smile.

**(¯`·. Hp/Ss .·´¯)**

"No Potter, Merlin. You are impossible." Draco chided.

"Well I can't help it if there's three forks to choose from and they all look usable." Harry snapped. "And it doesn't help that there's three spoons and two knives. It's overkill. I mean a drink spoon? Really?"

"No no no. This is the soup spoon, _this_ is the drink spoon, and this is the dessert spoon. This is the appetizer fork, this is the main course fork, and this is the salad fork. This is the butter knife, and this is the cutting knife." Draco explained again.

"Why are there two glasses?" Harry asked. The rest of the staff were watching on in amusement as the two sat at one of the two tables set up in the Great Hall, fussing over proper dining.

"This is the wine glass, and this is the water glass." Draco tried.

"How do they expect me to eat an appetizer, a main course, a soup, a salad, and bread? Not to mention drink both wine and water, all in one meal? And lunch on top of that? It's not even dinner!" Harry demanded.

"The portions are tiny." Draco told him. "See that tiny little square of steak just sitting there with the spoonful of peas and the spoonful of diced potatoes beside it?"

"Yeah, that's the appetizer, right?" Harry asked.

"No, that's the main course." Draco told the stunned young man. "Those two cheese sticks are the appetizer."

"They're so little!" Harry complained. "Wait, that whole 3 leaves of lettuce with some weird oil drizzled on it isn't... like a weird side dish of some sort, is it? That's a salad."

"Now you're getting it." Draco said with a smile.

"Oh good grief. How much soup is there?"

"Not nearly enough." Draco commented. "All in all, about 5 spoonfuls of it. That's why the soup spoon is so small."

"And the dessert?"

"A slice of cake about centimeter thick."

"Merlin. Okay, I retract my previous statement. How do they expect me to eat what adds to up a half a plate of a normal meal, and be full?"

"Bread." Draco informed him. "Lots of bread. It fills you up quicker. Now, I'll leave a diagram with you tonight of the proper names and uses of all of the utensils, dishes, and glasses. In the mean time, we need to work on polite conversation." The young man looked up to the staff who were watching on with stifled chuckles and amused expressions. "I need three volunteers to act like aristocrats."

"Oh great, now I get to learn how to talk like a 'fancy person' over dinner. I thought I did quite well with that already, as proven during those stupid speeches I had to give." Harry said, propping his elbow on the table and resting his head on his hand.

"Get that arm off the table this instant!" Draco called out, smacking the young man's offending arm with his wand while Professors Flitwick, Sinistra, and Headmistress McGonagall sat down as the volunteers. "And you did fine for those situations, but polite aristocratic dinner conversation is an art all in itself.

Harry snatched his arm back and glanced around at the table. "Right... Uhh, good afternoon."

"Wrong." Draco said right off the bat.

"Of course it is." Harry grumped.

"You start with something acknowledging their status. 'Lords and Ladies, it is a pleasure.' Say that with a little bow or a double roll of your wand hand. Then you can sit down and set a napkin in your lap. Now stand up and do it right." Draco ordered.

**(¯`·. Hp/Ss .·´¯)**

Harry took the napkin from his lap and folded it lightly, dabbing the corners of his mouth just a bit. He sat it down, folded, in the middle of his empty desert plate and nodded to those present. "It was truly a pleasure making some of your acquaintance and seeing some of you again." He stated politely.

"You as well Lord Potter." Lady Wintringham said. "Tell me, before you depart, why is it that you wish to be called Lord Potter, and not Lord Potter Black? After all, your inheritance of both fortunes entitles you to both names."

Harry gave a tiny smile and nodded his head at the woman slightly. "People have called me 'Potter' all of my life. 'Potter Black' sounds foreign to me. Not to mention if I were to go publicly by all of the titles that came with inheritances that have been willed to 'The-Boy-Who-Lived', and 'He-Who-Killed-He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named', then I would be known as 'Lord Potter Black Wimborne Perkins Ledburry Broadmoor Pivis Lervatsky'. Mind you, that's not including the smaller fortunes under 500,000 galleons. It seems a bit redundant to be quite honest."

"You're the Broadmoor Heir?" Lord Toplian asked with a scandalized look.

"I am afraid so." Harry replied, then leaned in as if to whisper. "The late Lord Broadmoor seemed to have a grudge against his children according to his will." He leaned back out and raised his hands slightly. "But that's all I'm allowed to say on that matter."

"You must be the richest wizard in the UK." Lady Wright commented.

"Probably not." Harry replied, to several of their astonishment. "Most of the willed fortunes that come to me go directly in to charity accounts that Gringotts holds for me. It was a suggestion of Lord Malfoy's that happens to work wonders keeping the restoration effort going in the UK, and funding for the Wizarding community in Romania."

"And you're kind to boot." Lady Wintringham added. "It's a pity you're married, I'd snatch you up in a heartbeat."

"I think my husband would have something to say about that." Harry said with an amused grin. "Now, I must be off, I've a new generation of Hogwarts Graduates to teach tomorrow, and I simply must get some rest."

By the time Harry and Severus had reached their rooms back at Hogwarts, Harry had mussed up his hair, unbuttoned those awful robes, and took those pinchy shoes off. "How'd it go?" Alden asked, looking up to the men as they came in through the portrait.

"It was awful!" Harry protested. "They only wanted to talk about money, who was who's heir, money, boring things, money, and did I mention money?"

"No I don't believe you did. Try it again." Severus suggested.

"MONEY! Dear Merlin, how much money a person has does not make them who they are! Don't any of the people who were born rich and didn't have a crap life know this?" Harry ranted, ripping his tie and outer robes off.

"Not likely. Arse-hats like that tend to believe that how much money a person is the only thing that defines them." Severus explained. "Mum's family was full of them."

"Asshat!" Teddy squealed.

Severus closed his eyes and pinched his lips together. "I wish someone would have told me he was awake. I'd have watched my language."

"Teddy, that's not nice." Harry scolded.

"Papa say it."

"Papa was mad."

"I mad I say it." Teddy tried.

"No, nobody should say it."

"Bad word?"

"Yes."

Teddy gave a glare to Severus. "Papa bad word. Papa go time out."

The older wizard stared incredulously at the toddler. "Excuse me?"

"Papa go time out. Now!" Teddy ordered.

"Does he seriously expect me to go sit in a corner on a baby stool because I, an adult, said a bad word?" Severus asked.

"Well, we are trying to teach him that bad things get punishments." Harry offered, trying to hide the grin from his face.

"I am not sitting on a baby stool in a corner." Snape stated.

"Papa time out." Teddy repeated, giving the man a pointed look.

"No." Snape told the child.

"Papa time out or daddy spank." Teddy told the man.

Snape raised an eyebrow that suggested he preferred the latter, and Harry's hands flew to his mouth while he tried to stop laughing. "Just do... Do a five... Oh god... Five minute time out Severus." The young man said between rolls of laughter. "I really don't want to explain _that _to him for about 10 more years."

Snape rolled his eyes. "I demand a stool that is tall enough for me."

"Time out stool is time out stool. Papa time out, so time out stool." Teddy argued. Merlin sometimes Harry was amazed that the werewolf in him allowed his comprehension to grow so quickly. It was hard trying to think of him as a 2 ½ year old. Hell at this rate, by the time he was 3, he'd have the comprehension of a 5 year old.

"You're not going to distract him so I can say I did later, are you?" Severus asked his husband.

Harry grinned brightly. "Of course not dear. That would lying, and lying is bad. Not to mention Ron and Draco would love to see a memory of you sitting on the 'time out stool' in the corner.

Snape growled and narrowed his eyes at his young lover. "If you make me do this, you aren't getting any for a week."

"I didn't want to hear that, la la la la la." Alden said covering his ears with his hands.

Harry just kept grinning like a loon. "I can live with that, because this will be so worth it."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Harry woke up suddenly, listening to the silence around him. His eyes didn't open, his breathing didn't change, in fact, the only indication that he was awake was his heart rate was up. He listened intently then...

Just there! That noise. It sounded like someone sneaking about their rooms. He slipped silently out of bed putting his stealth and tracking training to good use. Stalking towards the sitting room portion of their chambers, he followed the noise. When he heard a sigh and the tell tale sound of that particular walk, he crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Alden."

"Ahhh!" Alden jumped back a bit. "You came out of nowhere!"

"You woke me up." Harry informed the young man.

"I was totally quiet except for a few tiny drags of my feet on the floor." Alden protested.

"Sleep training." Harry reminded the young boy.

"Oh, right... Sorry."

"Why are you up and sneaking about the chambers?" Harry asked, flicking his hand towards one of the candelabra effectively lighting the candles, then went to the couch.

"I couldn't sleep." Alden admitted.

"Nightmares?"

"Sort of."

"Well?" Harry prompted.

"You know it's amazing how you just kind of wave your hand and something happens that normally needs a wand and a verbal incantation." Alden told the man.

"You're deflecting. What kind of nightmares?"

"They're not actual nightmares, and it's the kind I'd really rather not think about right now."

Harry frowned. "Do they have anything to do with the war?" Alden shook his head. "Bullies?" Another shake. "It doesn't have anything to do with what happened before does it?"

Alden blinked. "Lots of things have happened 'before', you're going to have to be a bit more specific than that."

Harry crinkled his nose. "With Muertof."

"Oh. No, nothing to do with him, just..." The boy let out a sigh. "I don't know why, but for some reason, I've been dreaming about Teddy turning into a werewolf."

"Well, his father was a werewolf, and according to Tamara, he seems to be a type of one himself. It is within the realm of possibility that one day he might shift into one, or something like one." Harry explained.

"But what if he does? It's supposed to be super painful, and I've never been around a werewolf during their transformation, they lose their heads."

"That they do, but remember, Severus is a Potions Master, he can make Wolfsbane." Harry reminded the child.

"Oh yeah. I'd forgot about that." Alden said. "Wait... How did you survive the Liridon's transformations for 11 months?"

"They locked me up." Harry admitted. When Alden looked horrified, the young man elaborated. "Macoval built a cage for me. Every full moon, I'd get in the cage around 2 hours before dusk, and since it was enhanced thanks to my magic, they couldn't get in when the moon came out."

"Were you scared?"

"Oh I was terrified the first few times. I didn't get any sleep during the full moon for at least 5 months. I mean, you try to sleep when you're locked in a cage and you've got 50 plus hungry werewolves stalking around you trying to figure out what you are and if you're edible. But eventually I got a bit used to it and I was able to go to sleep."

"So what do we do if Teddy ever turns into one?" Alden asked seriously.

"Turns into what?" Severus asked sleepily, making his way into the sitting room.

"A werewolf." Harry supplied.

"We have a room." The older wizard said dismissively as he sat down on the couch on the other side of the teen while going through the motions of waking up.

Alden blinked lightly. "I don't think he's awake yet."

Harry chuckled. "We have a room set back at the manor that's specially fitted to keep from being destroyed. When Remus was helping Severus try to improve the Wolfsbane, he needed a room which could hold a frightened, hungry werewolf during his transformations, and Severus would take off from Hogwarts once a month for that. If Teddy ever does shift into a werewolf, we can put him in that room for the night."

"But what if he gets lonely?" Alden protested. "And keeping him locked up in a cage, he's a kid, he wouldn't understand and-"

"Hey hey hey, it's not a cage. Would you like to see it? It's very civil." Harry offered.

"You'd let me?"

"You live there don't you?" Snape asked the child.

"Well yeah, but I-"

"Then you're allowed to see the house you live in. Think boy." Severus told him.

Alden gave a sharp, short laugh. "Yeah I suppose I didn't think that one through well."

"Then it's settled. We'll pop by the manor today after the Sorting Feast and let you see the room." Harry said with a smile.

**(¯`·. Hp/Ss .·´¯)**

"-and as your Head of House, I expect you to come to me or Headmistress McGonagall if you have any problems. Yes Mr. Flashtor?" It was Sunday the third of September and Harry was prepping the Gryffindors for the year.

"Why weren't you here last year?" The fourth year inquired.

"I was away on business." Harry told them. "Yes Ms. Malshrot?"

"You said at the feast that we should expect for there to be changes in the way Defense Against the Dark Arts was taught, even from when you taught it before. What kind of changes were you talking about?" The third year girl wondered.

"You'll just have to find that out the rest of the school now won't you?" He said with a grin. "Now, since there are no more questions, third through seventh years, you head on up to your dorms, and first and second years, you stay down here in the common room for a small bit. Chop chop." The children separated themselves and when Harry was with the first two years he gave an almost apologetic smile. "Alright. This is a speech that's supposed to be only for the first years, but since I wasn't here last year, and I have no idea how Professor Dedworth was with you lot, I figured I'd let the second years know as well."

"He was awful." One of the second year girls piped up causing small giggles to go throughout the room.

"So I've heard. Right. Should you get homesick, the prefects are there for a reason. You can go to one of them, and if it's too much they'll take you to me or Madame Pomfrey, but they will normally come to me first, so if you aren't comfortable with coming to me, ask for Madame Pomfrey. You will not get in trouble if any of that happens. If you are caught roaming the halls after curfew and aren't on your way to or from Astronomy, accompanied by a prefect or staff, or with a pass, you will get a detention, no ifs ands or buts about it. There will be no fighting with other houses simply because of house prejudice. If someone else starts it, you are allowed to finish it, but only under the condition that you do so in defense only. Do not use offensive spells. Professor Flitwick will be checking the wands of all involved in any fights to see just what the last spell cast was. If his findings are inconclusive, or if you cast any offensive spells, you will get a detention. Yes Mr. Zeigler?"

"What if we're out after curfew because we're helping another student to get to a prefect or staff or something like that?"

"The prefects are set up so there will be one in your dorm at any given time after curfew, though they'll probably be asleep half of the night. You go to them, wake them if need be, and they take the best course of action. Should I catch, or another member of staff bring it to my attention, that any of you have bullied any other students, you will be dealt with accordingly, detention being on the top of the list. Everyone got that? Good. Now, go back to your dorms, and please send the 5th years and up down to the common-room."

Harry hummed to himself as students shuffled out and older students shuffled back in minutes later. Once the three eldest houses were present he garnered everyone's attention. "This is just a friendly reminder that the use of Veritaserum on students in year five and above who attend Hogwarts _is _permitted in cases where it is believed another beings life may be in danger. In other words, if you do something that risks the life of another student, you will be dosed with a truth serum to see if you did it with malicious intent or if it was an accident so the proper punishment can be taken, and it is completely within the school's legal rights. Your parents have been informed of this with a note that came with your list of supplies for the year. Yes Mr. Hawksworth?"

"What happens if we did it out of defense?" The fifth year asked.

"Then both you and the other party shall be punished. Yes Ms. Dingle?"

"Will you make Halloween fun again?" The seventh year asked.

Harry blinked in surprise at the randomness of the question. "What do you mean?"

"Well you were behind the whole booth and costume contest in '98, then in '99 Dedworth rallied against that and thanks to him the rest of the staff kind of fell out of their happy mood, and the Halloween Ball was just awful. It was a bunch of us sitting around in uniforms drinking pumpkin juice and doing nothing." She told him.

"Hmm... Well, the restoration effort of those affected by the war has went along smoothly, and right now they don't really need the galleons that would be raised from the booths, so, if you lot can come up with a charitable cause for the money that we'd raise, then yes I don't see why we couldn't do that." Cheers went around the room as the students started clamoring. He called their attention again and quietened them down. "Alright alright, I'll have something set up before the week's out. Now get on to bed, we've got a long day come tomorrow."

**(¯`·. Hp/Ss .·´¯)**

"They keep looking at me." Harry whispered, taking a quick bite of his casserole.

"What do you expect? Alden's a Slytherin and his dad is Head of Gryffindor." Snape whispered back.

"So?"

"So, they would want to know how the Head of Gryffindor treats his son and acts in public with the Head of Slytherin."

"Then why is it only the first and second year Slytherins who keep staring?"

"Because the others have already seen how you are and simply aren't interested."

"Hey Sev?"

"Yeah?"

"I think I'm going to need a release session tonight."

Severus looked at his young husband with concern. "Has something happened?"

"Aside from it being almost 3 weeks since I've hunted anything, no."

"Well, we'll head by the Room of Requirement after dinner."

"What about Alden coming with?"

"He hasn't wanted to train in the room since about 2 weeks before the end of last term."

Harry snapped his head up and furrowed his brows. "What? Why wasn't I told?"

"I presume I simply didn't think to tell you in the letters. It didn't seem important."

"Important?" Harry exclaimed in a hushed tone. "It was to keep him from lashing out or simply not doing anything when he was bullied."

"And he's done marvelously with that over the last year. Harry, not everything stood still when you left. Life went on, people grew, and new relationships formed." Severus told the young man seriously.

Harry's fork fell to the table, which was luckily covered by a tablecloth that didn't let it sound out. "Oh my god... You've found someone else, haven't you?" He asked, fear coursing through his veins.

"Absolutely not." Snape said rather more loudly than he'd wanted. A few of the conversations between the staff stopped and they glanced towards the two.

"What the hell did you mean by 'new relationships formed' then?" Harry demanded.

"Merlin, don't you use that lump that resides in your head that you call a brain?" Severus snapped. "Mrs. Lovegood was a person I'd never expected to welcome into my home so easily, but I did, because a relationship with her through your cousin was formed when they got married. Not to mention a relationship with the Aberforth started after the Muertof incident. He was one of the only things that kept me from getting drunk off my arse because you were gone, which mind you was extremely hard on his part considering we met weekly in a damn pub."

"I'm sorry Sev, I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions." Harry said with his head lowered a bit.

"Yeah, well I am too. I probably should have informed you when Alden felt good enough with himself to stop training his reflexes." Severus admitted.

The corner of Harry's lip quirked up, then his monitoring charm went off. "Teddy's up, I'll go see to him. The session can hold off until he goes back to sleep."

"Yeah alright." Severus said with a light sigh as Harry got up.

The younger wizard gave him a quick peck. "I love you."

"I love you too and I wish you wouldn't make me say that in front of 20-something staff members and almost 300 children." Snape said grumpily.

As Harry was walking from the Great Hall, Alden caught up with him. "Hey, what happened?"

"Teddy woke up."

"No I mean when you were fighting with Severus." The teen amended.

"Oh, that was irrationality on my part, and that's all I'm going to say." Harry told the young man. "Get back to dinner."

"I'm done already."

"Really... Then perhaps you could watch Teddy for me for an hour or so." Harry mused.

"Where are you going?"

"Room of Requirement."

"Oh..."

"Yeah."

"Alright then." Alden said with a slight nod. "I can watch him for you."

**(¯`·. Hp/Ss .·´¯)**

Severus walked into the rooms he and Harry shared around 10 pm that night. Merlin he was glad that Minerva had the side doors to both of their offices connect to a passageway that went directly to the hallway in front of their rooms so both could be in their territory in a flash. "Alden?" He asked when he saw the young boy trying to put a fussy Teddy to sleep. "Why aren't you in your dorm? Where's Harry?"

"He said he was gonna-"

"Aldy no!" Teddy screamed.

"- go to the Room of Requirement for an hour."

Severus went over and picked up Teddy and started rocking the toddler. "How long ago was that?"

"Oh about 6 o'clock." Alden said with a sigh. "He wouldn't eat anything besides potatoes, so that and a bit of a nutrient potion in his juice was all he's had. Mashed potatoes of course."

"Thank you Alden. You can go back to the dorm if you like."

"Actually, I'd rather stay here. I'm worried for Harry. He seemed kind of... off earlier, and I want to make sure he comes back okay."

Snape allowed the young man to stay there for a bit, and about an hour later when Teddy had finally fell asleep and Alden was napping on the couch, the boy had refused to go to an actual bed, Severus decided to go to the room to check in on Harry and see if everything was alright.

After pacing 3 times in front of the entrance, the door appeared as per the usual, and Snape went inside. After the door had closed behind him, his eyes widened at what he saw.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

The room was completely empty, no sign of life anywhere inside of it. "I need to know where Harry is." He stated into the nothingness. One of the walls morphed into something like a screen and Severus saw trees moving at an incredibly fast pace. He heard a panting sound followed by a twig snapping and a sharp look to the other side while the movement stopped suddenly. Slowly the image crept along until the trees parted and a deer was seen drinking out of a small pond. A very low, almost nonexistent growl was just barely heard. Snape's eyes widened when he saw the deer had spikes down its back. "The Forbidden Forest." Severus gasped.

He very nearly ran from the seventh floor to the main hall on the ground floor, taking every secret passageway that he knew of. Harry was hunting a Siplia. A magical creature classified as XXXX by the Ministry of Magic, meaning it ranked right up there with thestrals, unicorns, winged horses and the like. If he wasn't incredibly careful he could get seriously hurt. Not to mention it was 11 at night and Snape couldn't see shit, which he realized as he stood staring at the forest from one of the more traveled entrances. "Severus?"

The man whirled around and came face to face with Harry. "You're alright."

"Yes, why wouldn't I be?" Harry asked.

"The room showed you hunting Siplia, and you've been missing for 5 hours." The older wizard said with a penetrating gaze.

"Wow 5 hours, really?" Harry carded his fingers through his hair. "I'd not realized I was out that long. Though that kind of explains why it's so dark."

"How could you have lost track of that much time?"

"I was hunting Siplia." Harry reminded him.

"What happened to a release session in Room of Requirement?" Severus demanded, nudging the younger man along to come with him back to the castle.

"Oh that... Well, I went in there, and I tried to put up with the nonsense the room provided, but things wouldn't run or beg or anything I needed. Basically, I can't stop the urges unless I'm actively hunting."

"Harry, something needs to be done about this."

"Why can't I just hunt in the forest once a week?" The young man protested as they entered the school grounds.

"Because if a student should happen to catch you or get in your way, it would be hell trying to get out of that. Not to mention the forest is full of magical creatures with sentience. The unicorns and centaurs would become angry if you started hunting their kind."

"I'd hunt a dragon before I'd hunt either one of those."

"What about this. How about you ask Macoval if he would be willing to allow your presence in their hunting every Sunday evening? That way no magical creatures get hurt and start a rebellion, you get it out of your system, and they get an extra hand gathering food."

Harry stopped for a moment and thought about it. "That's actually a fairly brilliant idea." He said with a smile on his face. The smile quickly vanished and his body became rigid.

"What's wro-"

"Shh!" Harry snapped. He listened to the area around him and stalked silently towards a hallway. He stopped in front of a gargoyle and crossed his arms over his chest. "Come out of there." He ordered.

Severus walked up to him and looked around quite confused. He saw and heard no-one. "Harry, I don't-"

"There's someone there behind the gargoyle with an invisibility cloak, and a feather-light charm on their feet. I think it's Mr. Acklery or Mr. Grimsworth, I can't tell they both sound so similar."

"How did you know?" Mylor Grimsworth's voice rang out as he slipped the cloak from his head, much to Snape's surprise.

"The way you breathe, the tiny sounds you make when you're trying not to make noise by touching anything, and your walk. You and Mr. Acklery have nearly identical tells, but once I spend more time around you, I'll learn to distinguish between the two of you."

"You're like a search dog or something." Mylor commented.

"Right. Cloak and charm, no escort. I assume that means no pass as well, and Astronomy doesn't start until midnight. Why were you sneaking around?"

"I just wanted to have some fun." The boy admitted.

"Well go have fun in your dreams. Five points from Gryffindor and detention Tuesday with Mr. Filch." Harry ordered, snatching the invisibility cloak from the boy's shoulders. "And this will go to Headmistress McGonagall until the Christmas holidays."

"Oh that's not fair!" Mylor cried.

"Oh but it is. Hurry on now before I make it 10 points." Harry said, handing the young man a slip of paper.

When Mr. Grimsworth stalked off angrily, Severus leaned in. "Where did you get the pass?"

"I Accio'd it." Harry explained.

"Of course you did." Severus said with a small shake of his head. He was going to have to get used to this new 'wave my hand and any spell I want happens' Harry. As well as the 'let me hunt and kill something once a week' Harry. He gave a sigh and started back in towards their rooms.

**(¯`·. Hp/Ss .·´¯)**

Severus jolted awake by a burning sensation on his wrist. Dear Merlin, his bracelet was heating up for the first time in 11 months. "Shimmering Fur." He said frantically and was port-keyed to... wait. Where the hell was he? He looked around and took in his surroundings. He was in a cell somewhere underground judging by the lack of windows and the bars around him. It looked familiar though, except for the fact that the walls were rainbow colored, that just didn't fit.

No... It couldn't be. This place was destroyed in '98 when Potter Granger and Weasley rescued some of the abandoned abductees right before the war ended. "Severus" A cold voice that he knew called out. "Our Lord is very displeased with you."

"You're dead." Snape told the voice assuredly.

"This is no time to be making threats." It snarled.

"No, you are dead. You died over a year ago."

The man looked down at his arms then back at Severus. "I feel rather alive at the moment."

Another figure stepped into the room. "Ahh Lucius, I see the traitor does have the decency to wake up." The sickly snake like voice called.

"Yes, it seems your sleeping potion did wonders for him."

"Well, if it's a nightmare he wants, it's a nightmare he'll get."

Wake up. You're sleeping. It's a nightmare. Wake up, you're sleeping, it's a nightmare. "Wake up, you're sleeping. It's a nightmare Sev. Come on, wake up."

"Mmmm." Severus grumbled as he blinked rapidly sitting up in his bed. "Wha?"

"You were having a nightmare." Harry told him, not removing his hand that was wrapped around Snape's arm.

"Go back to sleep." Severus said while laying down as the remains of his nightmare faded from his memory.

"I can't sleep." Harry admitted.

"Why not?"

"Because I'm meeting with Macoval today."

"Weren't you talking about needing a good duelist who could focus on physical fighting soon for a demonstration for your 7th years?" Severus inquired.

"Yeah, but I can't pull you out of class."

"Why not ask Macoval? You have both 7th year classes today after lunch. It would give him something new to do, and since he's coming here anyway for a lunch meeting, it would be easy to ask. Of course you'll have to okay it with Minerva, but that shouldn't be a problem."

**(¯`·. Hp/Ss .·´¯)**

Harry glanced around as the room started filling with chattering children, some who were looking over the visitor cautiously. One of the children realized immediately what Macoval was and trembled a bit as he walked up to Harry's desk. "Uh, Professor Potter?" He asked timidly.

"Yes Mr. Kirleth?" Harry asked the 7th year Ravenclaw.

"I don't know if you uhm... if you know this or not, but he, uh, he's a... a werewolf." The child whispered.

Macoval chuckled and Harry nodded. "Yes I am aware. Not to worry David, he's not going to hurt anyone. He's here for a demonstration. You can take your seat now."

Around five minutes later the class settled down and Harry took a stand. "As you can see, we have a visitor today. This is Macoval. Now, for the first part of the class, I want your attention and participation. The normal rules for correct answers to questions apply. Does everyone understand?"

"Yes Professor Potter." The class chorused. Macoval raised an intrigued eyebrow.

"Right. What have we been studying since you've all come back? Ms. Cram?"

"Sentient Magical Creatures of levels 4 and 5 as dictated by the Ministry Classification, and the first chapter of 'Confronting the Faceless', which we were supposed to read last year but didn't because Professor Dedworth didn't know what he was doing." Olivia Cram answered, causing scoffs and smirks to go throughout the room.

"That is correct and you get two points for Ravenclaw for that, but what have I said about taking stabs at people who can't be here to defend themselves? Mr. Loftobs?"

"If you've got something to say about someone, tell it to their face or keep your trap shut." The young man answered.

Harry smirked. "Quite right. Two points to Hufflepuff. Now, on sentient Magical Creatures of level 4, what are the most misrepresented ones? Mr. Condor?"

"Centaurs and Merpeople."

"Correct. Two points to Hufflepuff. Level 5? Ms. Bertram?"

"Werewolves and Acromantula."

"Correct. Two points to Ravenclaw. If you were to see a werewolf in human form, what, if any, distinguishing characteristics would give them away? Mr. Beamish?"

"Scars and amber eyes."

"Mmm, half correct. Amber eyes yes, but not every werewolf is littered with scars. In fact, there are many who live in clans outside of the wizarding world who don't feel the need to restrain themselves and thus, have no markings from accidental self mutilation. So one point to Hufflepuff."

"What about when they're bitten? Doesn't that leave a scar?" Mr. Beamish asked.

"Normally yes, but not all werewolves were bitten or scratched. When two werewolves mate, their child is born with the gene, and if a werewolf and a non-werewolf mate, their child has what is assumed to be a 50% chance of being born with the gene. Yes Ms. Stretton?"

"Isn't the only way to tell if someone is a werewolf when they're not in the middle of their transformation by their eyes? Like there's no other way until they're in wolf form."

"You are correct. Why is this a problem? Ms. Cram?"

"Because any witch or wizard that's not a werewolf who has a basic understanding of a glamour spell can alter the color of their eyes to that of amber. Being a werewolf disables the effects of a glamour spell before it can start."

"Correct, two to Ravenclaw. Now, our guest has agreed to do a physical duel with me, no magic. Yes Mr. Kirleth?"

"What uh... what does a physical duel have to uh, do with Defense Against the _Dark Arts_?" He asked with an audible gulp.

"Glad you asked. If you are not proficient in wandless magic, and you become disarmed, you may have to rely on physical fighting. So you're going to need to know maneuvers that can help you out when your opponent is casting hexes at you. Macoval here was kind enough to teach me how to do exactly that with a charmed training dummy, and we are going to show you how that's done. Yes?"

Kirleth spoke up again. "Doesn't he have the chance to hurt you being physically stronger than you though? I mean, considering... and all."

Macoval chuckled and spoke for the first time that class. "Dear boy, you need not worry about him. Kione, or Mr. Potter as you know him, is one of the best physical combatants I've trained. If anything, I'd say you need to worry about me getting hurt."

Harry grinned. "I'm not that good on the defensive part of physical combat and you know it."

"Yes, but your offensive skills put even my father to shame, and he was our clan's best fighter in nigh a century."

Whispers started flying around the room and both men standing at the head of the class shared grins. Harry quietened them down though. "Now, before you lose track of what we're doing, let me remind you, I am the only one that Macoval is going to be dueling, and we shall have a protective barrier up around us the whole time. Mr. Kirleth, would you please share with the class your assessment of Macoval?"

The boy gulped again and nodded slowly. "Mr. Macoval is physically stronger than Professor Potter, and he probably has sharper eyesight and hearing."

"Stronger not really that's about the same, better eyesight, no. Mr. Potter's sight has been fixed with magic, and through his training with us, it has become even better than mine. Though his hearing is still a bit lacking." Macoval said with a wry grin.

Harry chuckled. "And how did you come to this conclusion Mr. Kirleth?"

"Because Mr. Macoval is a werewolf." The boy answered. Gasps and wide eyes went around the room.

"Correct. 2 points to Ravenclaw. Don't look so shocked. I'd like to remind you that the year before you lot came to Hogwarts a werewolf was the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor and there was never a problem with him. Right then, are we ready?"

Macoval took off the outer robe that Harry had supplied him with and nodded. Really, such silly things they wore. "Are we going to focus on specific tactics or is this a free brawl?"

"This is a free brawl, but if you wind up coming back, then we'll do specific tac- whoa!" Macoval charged in and grabbed hold of Harry's wrist as the young man swiped his leg around catching the werewolf's leg in the crook of his knee. "If you weren't- ah- paying attention- mmph- his nod signaled the beginning of the- hey!"

Macoval twisted Harry's arm around to which the young man responded by snaking his leg back around, twisting the other man's foot outward. "The beginning of the duel." Macoval finished for him. He maneuvered Harry into a headlock. "The question I asked was a- wah!"

Harry pinched the werewolf's inner elbow causing his arm to loosen some and ducked down, grabbing one of the man's legs and pulling it out from under him. "It was a diversionary tactic- ah- that almost worked." Macoval grabbed on to Harry's arm before he hit the ground, pulling the young man down with him and they struggled for a bit to get the upper hand. Literally.

Eventually, Harry wound up victor with his right arm pressing down on Macoval's neck, his right hand cupping around the side of the man's face, and his left hand resting on top of the man's head. They both panted for a moment, catching their breath. "In this position, should we have been fighting to the death, I could snap his neck easily and that'd be the end of it." Harry said standing up and holding out a hand to help Macoval up from the floor.

"That was an interesting fight." A voice called from the doorway, startling Harry for quite possibly the first time since he'd been back.

"Seve- I mean Professor Snape. What are you doing here?" Harry asked, still slightly out of breath.

"Class ended 8 minutes ago, I was sent to find the missing students on behalf of the staff." The man replied with a smirk.

"I didn't hear you come in." Harry admitted. The 7th years watched in fascination from the duel that had just happened and in amusement of the two professors.

"You were in the heat of a fight, and like I said earlier, your hearing's still lacking. You focus in on one thing instead of everything around you." Macoval teased.

"Well it's nice to know it's still possible for someone to surprise me." Harry said. "Class dismissed I suppose."

"Are we going directly in to another duel during your next class, or will there be a break?" Macoval asked popping his back while the students gathered their belongings.

"There will be about the same amount of time we spent here with questions and answers. Expect a few more students to identify you right out. It's Slytherins and Gryffindors, meaning while they both may not be the smartest houses, they're excellent at putting things together, sort of. Once we start talking about sentient magical creatures, I'm sure at least half of the class will know you're a werewolf."

"Oh they're not easy to shock then?"

"No they are, it's just the Slytherins are paranoid, and the Gryffindors jump to conclusions for the most part."

**(¯`·. Hp/Ss .·´¯)**

"Daddy we go home." Teddy said with a sad face and watery eyes.

"Teddy, what are you doing up?" Harry asked while holding out his arms as the wobby toddler, who nearly fell into them.

"Daddy go home. Don' like him." Teddy said with a sniffle.

"Him who?" Severus asked giving a concerned look to the boy.

"Him." Teddy said pointing to his room as Alden walked out.

"What? You don't like Alden?" Harry asked.

"No, Teddy like Aldy. Don' like _him_." The toddler said, pointing yet again to his room.

"Him who? I don't understand." Harry said with a furrowed brow.

"Peeves." Alden supplied, sitting down in a chair and rubbing his forehead and yawning. "Peeves is in our room and refuses to leave or listen to reason."

"Oh for the love of Merlin." Severus grumped while he got up. "I'm going to find the Bloody Baron, he's the only one who can get that confounded poltergeist under control." He said, transfiguring his sleep-clothes into something similar to his normal teaching robes and stalking out.

Harry went into the room and attempted to talk to the annoying ghost, but it was to no avail. Peeves wound up running them out of their own chambers. He left a note on the door via a sticking charm for Severus along with the Marauder's Map so he could find them if he needed it, while the small group wound up walking through some corridors.

"Why did you look so tired in class today?" Alden inquired.

"Macoval came by and we did two demonstrations of free brawling for the 7th years while explaining why they should learn basic physical combat in case they become disarmed at some point in a duel." Harry explained. "After two rounds of hand to hand with a werewolf, anyone's bound to be tired."

"Yeah I'd guess so." Alden replied with slightly wide eyes. "Do you think I'll get to watch you duel with someone one of these days without holding back so much like you did with Dawlish?"

"Probably in your 7th year. I plan on making it a point to have duels at the end of the year for the graduating class where we don't hold back, well, unless I'm holding _that _part of me back, but you know what I mean."

The boy sighed. "Yeah I know. It's just sometimes I thi-"

"Shh." Harry said, stopping mid-stride holding his arm out in front of Alden to keep him from moving forward. He listened intently and a small noise to the left caught his attention. A rustling of fabric, probably one of those squishy soft pajama sets. Oh for the love of Merlin. "Mr. Grimsworth, come out of there." He stated, tapping his foot.

A groan came from a small area where a suit of armor used to stand and a head popped out from behind a suit of armor. "What gave it away this time?" Mylor complained.

"Your pajamas were rustling, those noises I told you about last time that you make when you try not to touch something, and your foot was sticking out beside the armor." Harry said with a raised eyebrow.

"I really need to learn how to be stealthier." The boy commented.

"No, you really need to learn how to follow the rules. 10 points from Gryffindor and we will walk you back this time. Detention with me on Friday." The young professor stated nudging the boy along and starting up the grand staircase.

"That's not fair!" Grimsworth protested. "It was only 5 points last time!"

"Yes, and you obviously didn't learn from that, hence why the amount rose. Every time I catch you out, it will rise again and again."

"By 5, or doubled?" Alden wondered aloud.

"Hey you're not helping!" Mylor cried out.

"By 5." Harry said with a smirk. "I fear if I were to double it for every infraction this one causes throughout the entire year, we'd be in the negatives come Halloween."

"It's only been twice." Grimsworth countered.

"It's only been a week." Harry supplied. "Use that math. Twice a week, start with 5, double it until Halloween."

Mylor counted in his head while they walked. "Five hundred and eighty?"

"640." Alden corrected.

"Daddy?" Teddy asked sleepily from the man's left arm.

"Merlin!" Mylor said with a small jump. "Where'd he come from? Who is he?"

"This is Teddy, mine and Professor Snape's second adopted son." Harry explained before seeing to the toddler.

"You're married to Professor Snape? That's not just a rumor?" He received a nod. Really, first years were amusing sometimes with what they did and didn't know. "Who's the first?" Mylor wondered.

"Me." Alden told him.

"But you're a Slytherin." Mylor said with curiosity. "If one of your parents are head of your house, then doesn't that mean that there's an unfair advantage there?"

"Not at all." Alden told him. "They both treat me just like any other student in class. If I do something that's deserving of points, they award them, but if I do something against the rules, they take them away."

"Did you get in trouble tonight then? Is that why you're with him?" Grimsworth asked as they ascended to the fourth floor.

"Oh no, Peeves came into mine and Teddy's bedroom, then Sev- I mean Professor Snape went to go get the Bloody Baron because he's the only one who can control Peeves, then Professor Potter tried to convince Peeves to leave, but he wound up chasing us out of our rooms instead. So now we're just kind of wandering around until Se- Professor Snape comes to get us."

"You can use our first names in cases like this, I don't mind and I don't think he will either." Harry told the young man while rocking Teddy a bit on his hip. A noise from behind them caught his attention and after a few seconds he grinned. "No I take that back. You can use my first name, he's trying to keep up that whole fearsome dungeon bat reputation and I don't think students hearing us calling him 'Severus' all the time is going to help."

"Oh well thank you for the consideration." Snape's voice rang out as he walked up towards them.

Alden and Mylor jumped and Teddy smiled sleepily at the man. "Papa." He called reaching out his arms.

"I think he wants you to hold him." Harry said, turning a bit to switch out.

"Yes, of course he does." Severus said reaching out and taking hold of the toddler, who immediately clung to his shoulder. "Teddy, have I ever told you that you are as bad as your father at making me look soft in front of the first years?"

Harry chuckled, Alden smiled, Teddy said 'huh?', and Mylor just stared. He'd never seen the mean grumpy Potions Professor in such a state. Granted he'd only seen the man for about a week, but still. One week is more than long enough for Snape to give a lasting impression on anyone. "It's like you're two different people." He finally said.

"Mmm, yes. And if I catch wind of sappy stories being passed around the school about me, I shall make sure that Gryffindor has no chance at winning the cup this year." Severus told the child.

"You can do that?" Mylor asked.

"Not within the rules." Harry said. "And we know what happens to people who break the rules, don't we Teddy?"

"Don't answer that Teddy." Snape ordered the nearly asleep toddler.

"Kay." Teddy mumbled into his shoulder.

They reached the Gryffindor common-room and Harry motioned the young boy inside. "I say we take my office back so we don't have to walk that whole bit again."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

"Charlie, there's a letter here for you." Draco called out as the owl that had delivered it flew off.

"Who's it from?" Charlie asked while trying to get Teddy to stop climbing on random pieces of furniture. Babysitting for the little bugger was proving to be more of a hassle than they'd imagined, but hey if it was helping Harry, it was worth it.

"I'm not sure, I've not seen the owl before and there's no name." Draco said, walking up to the other man and switching the letter for the toddler.

Charlie glanced at it while Draco squealed like a girl because Teddy pulled his hair. "You know, you ought to get it cut again or start wearing it in a ponytail." He commented before unfolding the parchment and looking it over. His demeanor immediately changed and he became silent.

"What is it?" Draco asked, holding the toddler out in front of him so he couldn't reach the platinum blond locks. "Charlie? What's wrong? Teddy stop that for a minute. Charlie?"

"Hmm, what?" Charlie asked, snapping his gaze to his fiance.

"What's wrong?"

"It's from Bill."

"Oh well that's wonderful, he's not missing then." Draco said while Teddy reached out and grabbed at his nose.

"No, he's still missing."

"I don't understand. Teddy stop, please."

"Unca Dray down now!" Teddy demanded.

"Do you promise to stop climbing on furniture?" Draco asked the boy.

"No." Teddy said silently with big pleading eyes.

Draco blinked at the boy and smiled. "Well I suppose that's better than saying yes and going off to do it again anyway. Sorry, but if you're going to scale Mount Table, I'm going to keep holding you."

"Mowtan bul?" Teddy asked quite confused.

"Nevermind." Draco said with a small chuckle. "Here, go draw a family picture, alright?"

"Kay!" Teddy said scrambling down and running to the room he was staying in.

"Now, what's this about Bill being found but missing?"

"This letter's from Bill, but it's dated from June 5th." Charlie explained. "He said he was gonna go out and just wander around the world for a while, popping in from one wizarding community to the other, and to not worry about him."

"Well there you go, he's not missing, he's exploring. What's wrong with that?" Draco asked curiously.

"He would never do something like this. He used to ride me all the time because I wanted to go exploring while in Romania, not to mention he called me 'Charles'."

"Well, that is your name."

"No, in every letter I've ever gotten from him, he calls me either 'little bro', 'Charlie', or 'Charlesworth', never 'Charles'."

"Charlesworth?" Draco asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, when I was little one day I asked him if his name was 'Williamsworth', and he said it wasn't, then I asked if I could call him that, and he said only if he could call me 'Charlesworth'. It was kind of a running joke after that. He would never address such a casual sounding letter to 'Charles', and he would never go off and explore the world." Charlie explained.

"Unca Cha... Chawr... Chawerlery?" Teddy tried, toddling back in to the sitting room.

Charlie coughed lightly to cover up his chuckle at the butchered name. "Yes Teddy?"

"How much red Weezeys dey are?"

"Eight." He replied with another small cough.

"How many dat?"

Charlie lifted 8 of his fingers to the small boy. "That many."

Teddy looked at the mans fingers, then at his own and copied the movement. He wrinkled his little nose and popped down one of the fingers from his right hand, sprouting a 6th on his left, and continued to do this until his left had had 8 fingers. "Dat many?" He asked, holding it out to the man.

Charlie stared at the little metamorphmagus for a moment then shook himself out of it. "Yes, that... yes."

"Kay tanks." Teddy called heading back to the room.

Draco and Charlie shared looks of astonishment. "Did you know he could do that?" The blond inquired.

"No, did you?"

"No."

"We should tell Harry and Severus."

"Right. But first w-"

"Excuse me." A female voice called from their fireplace. "Is Charlie zere?"

"Fleur?" Charlie asked looking towards the green fire.

"Oh good, Charlie. Somezing is wrong. I got a note from Bill but it's not right, and I can't find Molly and Arthur."

"Mum and dad have gone to France to look for him. He's been missing ever since you two split." Charlie said with a hint of scorn.

"I am so sorry." Fleur said unhappily. "I was stupid and should 'ave never said all zat. Bill is a good man, you are all good people. I was taking my anger out on you. But please, we 'ave no time for zat. Zis letter is-"

"Charlie? Draco?" Harry's voice called as his head popped into the fire as well. "Charlie?"

"'Arry?"

"Fleur?"

"Harry?"

"Potter?"

"Whoa whoa whoa, everybody stop." Charlie ordered. "Harry, what is it, I'm kind of in the middle of something."

"I got a letter from Bill-"

"You too?" Fleur asked. "I did as well. But it's not right."

"Yes exactly." Harry said.

"He uses words that he normally wouldn't." Charlie stated.

"You got one as well?" Fleur inquired.

"Yes, just a little bit ago." Charlie said.

"Does it also say to not worry?" Fleur asked.

"Yes." Harry and Charlie both replied.

"I think someone should contact the Weasleys Senior in France and tell them what's going on." Draco suggested.

"But we do not know what is going on." Fleur reminded him.

Suddenly Ron popped in to the room clutching a parchment with the twins on either side of him. "Charlie!" Ron called out.

"Look, half the family's here." Fred said.

"Did everyone get a letter?" George asked.

A resounding yes was heard from everyone else. "Alright." Charlie said, rubbing at his temples. Apparently when mum, dad, and Bill were out of the picture, Charlie was the go-to Weasley. "Harry, you and Severus get over here, Fleur, you as well. Fred, George, Ron; Fleur is sorry for being so vindictive over the last bit, don't be mean. Someone should conta-"

"Charlie?" Another voice called from the fireplace.

"Percy, I was just thinking about you."

"I got a-"

"A letter, yes I know. Floo in here now."

Fireplaces flared to life all around the UK, and one in France as well. Once everyone had arrived and were talking, yelling more like, with each other, Draco called their attention by standing on the couch. "QUIET!" He yelled, effectively silencing the group. "Now, I don't know about you lot, but I for one would quite like to hear what's going on." Murmurs of apologies and agreement were heard and he gave a sharp nod and stepped down, sitting on the couch and pulling Teddy up with him. "Now, first, Percy, stop giving Fleur the death glare, you can't pull it off, and she's apologized for being a-" He covered Teddy's ears with his hands and continued without missing a beat. "bitch." He moved his hands back down. "Secondly, Harry and Severus, Teddy can sprout extra fingers as part of his mum's inherited thing. Third, everyone with a letter, put them on the table. Charlie and Percy, since you two are the oldest here and have known Bill the longest, you go through and pick out the words that sound wrong. Ron, you call Hermione to get her in on this because she's smart. Severus, you and her will work together with whatever Charlie and Percy come up with. Fred and George, you find Molly and Arthur. Harry, you go back to Hogwarts, pick Alden up and bring him here, I think everyone's going to wind up staying the night and it wouldn't be good leave your kid there with no idea where you went. Fleur, you're going to watch Teddy and Alden so they don't get into trouble while we're trying to figure this out. Everybody got it?"

"What will you be doing?" Harry asked.

"I will be keeping everything organized so you lot don't run around like a bunch of nifflers with your heads cut off. Anyone who doesn't have anything to do, report to me and I'll find something to keep you busy."

"Who made you boss?" Ron demanded.

"In case you forgot, this is _Malfoy Manor_. Last I checked, my name was Malfoy. Now get on with it." Draco ordered.

**(¯`·. Hp/Ss .·´¯)**

"_Confringo_!" A voice called out.

"_Recrepo_!" Alden cried. The sound of several books falling from their shelves was heard.

"_Fluignus_!" The first voice yelled back.

"_Aguamenti_!" Alden countered.

"_Tendocorpis_!" The person shouted, but before the spell could reach Alden, Harry had stopped it with a wandless, wordless _Recrepo._

Storming in to the Slytherin common-room, Harry, with eyes ablaze, levitated the fool, held his arms and legs out, snatched his wand away, and shoved him into a wall, where shackles emerged from that held the boy in place. "What the HELL do you think you're doing to my son?" Harry bellowed.

"Harry!" Alden called out in surprise. He looked to the other boy and gasped. Jeffery Loaxis was plastered against a wall, shaking, eyes wide, and trying to talk, but no sound would come out. "Harry let him go!" Alden tried pulling on the man's robe sleeve and whimpering when he saw that red had replaced once green eyes.

Severus popped into the room clutching the wrist with his bracelet and quickly assessed the situation. "Alden are you alright?" He asked, ignoring the frightened boy against the wall and his husband who was transfiguring a book into a rope.

"Severus, make Harry let him go! Jefferey was helping me!" Alden tried, tears forming in his eyes.

Snape immediately transferred his attention to Harry and snatched the rope from the air that was heading towards the boy, banishing it. "Harry stop." He said in a deceptively calm voice stepping between the two.

"Move." Harry ordered, pushing Severus out of the way.

Severus quickly went back into position grabbing the younger man and pulling him in, holding tightly. "Stop it, now." He ordered.

Harry's eye twitched and he focused his attention on the dark wizard clutching him, sending pulse after pulse of something akin to an electric shock through the dark mark.

Jefferey collapsed to the floor and fought to catch his breath while Alden ran to his side. "Are you alright?" He asked the other boy.

"What the hell's going on?" Loaxis asked horrified while watching Professor Potter back Professor Snape into a corner, the latter of which contorting in pain while blood started seeping out from his sleeve, staining the white bit that was poking out and dripping to the ground.

"Uh, long story but I'll try to shorten it, when Harry killed Voldemort, he siphoned his power, and now when he thinks someone he cares for is in danger that power kinda takes over him which explains why the eyes go red, and Severus is the only one that's allowed to bring him out of it, but that makes him the new target since he interrupted but it works because Harry has to see someone he loves in pain directly caused by him before his humanity comes back and allows him to realize what he's done." Alden tried to explain while helping him to his feet.

Suddenly, as if the mentioning of it brought him out of it, Harry dropped his arm and blinked, watching as his husband fell to his knees to the ground. His eyes widened in horror when he saw the blood trail on Severus' hand and the wet spot in the sleeve where the dark mark was. His hand flew to his mouth and he looked around catching Alden's eye, then Jefferey's, and back to Alden. "Why was he hurting you?" Harry asked shakily.

"He wasn't. He was helping me train because I couldn't find you and I don't know how to work the Room of Requirement, and I thought working on my reflexes again might be benificial." The boy said looking as if he might cry.

Harry closed his eyes as the red started fading out and took in a trembling breath. He wasn't looking that far off from an emotional break down himself. "Jefferey, did I hurt you?"

"N-no sir. You did scare the living shit out of me though." The 7th year replied.

Harry gave a pained laugh that quickly turned in to a sob and went over to Severus, helping him up. "I've got to get him to the infirmary." He said while trying desperately to control his breathing so he didn't hyperventilate. For god's sake, it had almost been a year since he last did this, it was supposed to be over! "Alden can you explain to-"

"I already have." He said, putting Snape's other arm around his shoulder.

Jeffery shook his head. "Move Alden, you're too short, no offense." He said, lifting the man's arm and taking Alden's place.

"Why are you helping? Why aren't you off to report me to the Headmistress?" Harry asked the boy.

"Well, you didn't know what we were doing, you saw a 7th year sending offensive spells at a 4th year who happened to be your son, you jumped in as any good father would and defended him, and I assume that because Alden and Professor Snape know, Headmistress McGonagall also knows so it wouldn't come as a surprise to her. You didn't actually hurt me you just restrained me, and before we started Alden made the comment that if you were to walk in on it you might jump to a conclusion and wind up hurting me, so it was a calculated risk I was willing to take to help him out." Loaxis explained while they walked down the deserted hallway. Harry had never been so glad it was a Hogsmeade weekend.

Harry just shook his head as they came on the infirmary. The doors seemed to open of their own accord, but Alden quickly explained that it was Harry's wandless and wordless magic.

Severus groaned and his head lolled backward. "Alden get Loaxis, hurry." He ordered in a near whisper.

Harry's dry sob returned. "Poppy, it happened again." He called out. When the Medi-Witch came hurrying, he elaborated. "It's worse this time, he actually passed out."

"Oh good grief Mr. Potter, set him down on the bed. Where's the blood coming from?"

"The dark mark." Harry said before his eyebrows went into an oblique position and his bottom lip found itself being bitten harshly by his teeth.

"Harry!" She exclaimed while banishing the sleeve of his robe. "You said you'd never do that!"

"The werewolves taught me to use everything I knew about someone in a situation like this, I was going on instinct Poppy!"

Alden pulled Jefferey off to the side. "You don't have to stay if you want, but I should probably warn you, they'll want to put a memory charm on you so you forget this happened."

"I'd rather them not." The older boy admitted. "I don't like the idea of my memory being muddled with."

"Well, it's more to keep them safe than it is for you. I mean, if you accidentally say something about it later on and word gets out that Harry goes red-eyed and can control the dark mark that's left on those who used to be Death Eaters or spies, well... needless to say there would be an uprising."

"I didn't think of it that way." Jefferey admitted. He sighed and looked towards his professors, one of which was sobbing into the hand of the other, who was trying desperately to console him while Poppy fussed over his arm and shoved potions at him. "I suppose the only thing to do is to wait here until one of them is able to..." He made a disgusted face. "muddle with my memory."

"Well I could probably get Aunt Minnie to do it. Er, I mean, Headmistress McGonagall."

"'Aunt Minnie'?"

"Heh, yeah. She sees herself as more of Severus' sister and since me and Teddy are his sons, she's Aunt Minnie."

"Get over here." Snape's voice called out, jolting the two from their conversation. When they reached him he glared at them both. He looked to Alden. "You, no training unless one of us knows. If you can't find us, wait. Got it?"

"Yes Sir." The young boy said glancing downward.

Severus switched his gaze to Loaxis. "You, while we appreciate your attempt to help Alden, **don't**. Unless it's with schoolwork or some such thing. You're getting a memory charm, so is there anything you wish to say before you forget?"

"I kind of feel like this is all my fault, considering I'm the one that suggested we duel. I'm not too comfortable with the knowledge that I'll have someone poking about my mind, but I suppose I won't remember that so have at it."

Severus nodded and pointed his wand at the young man, engulfing his head with a pastel green blob. Jefferey stood there swaying a bit before blinking himself back into reality. "What happened? Professor Snape, are you alright?"

"Don't ask. I'll be fine. For future reference, if you ever feel like helping someone by dueling them, just don't." Snape told the young man.

Loaxis' eyebrows knitted together in confusion, but he nodded. "Yes Sir. Uh, what am I doing here?"

"You came with me because I was worried when I heard Severus was in the infirmary." Alden supplied with a straight face.

"Oh, right." Jefferey said not really remembering that at all. "Uh, what day is it?"

"Saturday." Severus told him. "A Hogsmeade weekend."

The last of the green blob seeped into the boy's head and he closed his eyes, shaking it a bit. He yawned suddenly from the influx of information he hadn't had before, not that he knew why. "I must be tired. I hope you get better Professor Snape." He said, walking from the hospital wing.

Severus let his head fall back on to his pillow. "We need to get back to Malfoy Manor. The Weasleys are sure to be worried by now."

"You are not leaving until your arm gets properly wrapped." Poppy stated assuredly. "And you, Mr. Potter, are going to wrap it."

**(¯`·. Hp/Ss .·´¯)**

_**A/N: **_Just a quick reference for the spells that aren't canon. Feel free to use them in your own fics.

Recrepo – A repelling charm that acts as a mirror reflecting the spell back in the caster's general direction. A 6th year spell.

Fluignus – A curse in which flames shoot from the wand's tip like a stream of water would from a hose. A 7th year spell.

Tendocorpis – A jinx that causes the limbs of a person to become stretched much like those of a rubber doll. A 5th year spell.


	7. Chapter 7

_**A/N: **_I have a drawn example of what a Siplia (the animal that Harry was hunting in Chapter 5) is supposed to look like. It's not the best, considering my drawing ability isn't that... y'know... good, but it does give a pretty decent type of reference. Since I can't link it here, I will just say that it's at deviantArt, and you could just search 'siplia' in dA's search bar, and it should be the deer looking thing with the blue background.

**Chapter 7**

"Look, I've already told you that it isn't a word he'd normally use. I should know!" Charlie argued.

"I've heard him use it in conversation before plenty of times, so forgive me if I'm wrong, but doesn't repeat use of a word make it something a person _would _use normally?" Percy demanded with a huff.

"Not in letters. Yeah he says it when he's talking all the time, but he rarely ever writes it, and when he does it's usually in the context of something that someone else has said." Charlie tried.

Harry blinked as he heard the conversation when he, Severus, and Alden floo'd back in. He sure hoped Draco knew what he was doing when he paired those two together. "Severus, where were you?"

"There was an incident, but it's taken care of." The man replied, ensuring that his robe sleeve, which was of the very rarely seen on him, 'loose' variety, covered the bandages.

"Well get back over there and start deciphering with what they have so far." Draco ordered. Ron came back in with Hermione, who was looking around curiously and slightly confused. This elicited a groan from the young Lord Malfoy. "You didn't even tell her what was going on, did you?"

"Uhh, no. It would have taken too much time and I didn't want to make everybody wait." Ron answered.

Draco rolled his eyes. "Bill's missing, everyone's gotten letters from him that are off, and we need your brains paired with Uncle Sev's to figure out why he's using words in those letters that he wouldn't normally."

Hermione gave a small shake of her head. "See Ronald? That wasn't so hard to explain, and you could have done that before you started dragging me off to the floo rambling on about people and orders."

"Right. Ron, you head back to the Burrow and see if there's another parchment addressed to Molly or Arthur. Hermione, over there with Severus. Harry, you help Fleur because it's starting to look like she can't handle Teddy on her own. Everybody got it?"

The three nodded and went off to their various tasks. Harry smiled lightly when he saw Teddy run past then nearly tumble as he stopped, turned around, and ran to Harry. "What in Merlin's name are you two doing?" He asked as Fleur caught up and took a small breather.

"I tried to put 'im down for a nap, but ze little boy ran." She said tossing her hands into the air.

"Flou try make me sleep! Teddy no sleep!" The toddler stated assuredly as he clung to Harry's legs.

"Ohhh I see. Don't worry Fleur, it wasn't your fault, Teddy's been rather against the idea of sleeping for a while now. Though why I don't know." Harry commented.

"Scary." Teddy told him as if he should have known.

"What's scary?" Harry asked, crouching down and scooping the boy up.

"Sleep scary." Teddy told him.

"Is the dark what makes sleep scary?" Harry asked the toddler. He was starting to become concerned.

"No."

Harry wrinkled his forehead, more than a bit confused, until he thought about the recent nighttime events that had been happening. "Was it a bad dream?"

"Wha?"

Harry was at a loss. Teddy didn't know what a dream was, and every time he tried to explain it, he couldn't seem to get the child to understand what he meant. The concept of reality being different from imagination hadn't been formed yet. He resolved then to stay by Teddy the next time he slept and watch him to see if he could observe any signs of a nightmare and possibly keep the child from being scared of sleeping in the future.

What was with all of the nightmares recently? Alden had three within the last 2 weeks, Severus two, himself two, and now it was a possibility that Teddy was having them as well. Something just wasn't right about all of this, but Harry simply couldn't solve the issue as he had no idea what was causing it. He wound up letting Teddy curl up beside him while the boy watched the chaos that was unfolding in Malfoy Manor, and the young man finally tuned back in to the conversations around him.

**(¯`·. Hp/Ss .·´¯) **

Days had passed, Harry and Severus were back at Hogwarts pretty much staying out of the Bill situation as they had nothing more to contribute. Severus and Hermione had deduced that Bill's letters to everyone were simply phrased that way to let them know that something was wrong, and hadn't been a deep sort of message. The twins - after they'd located and updated the Weasleys Senior - and Charlie tried the point me spell, but that had gone haywire and instead of pointing them in one general direction, it caused their wands to spin like the handles on a clock.

Harry had missed his Sunday romp, as he was busy at Malfoy Manor trying to help, and sent a note of apology to Macoval explaining the situation. The werewolf reminded him that they are very good trackers, and because of all the help that he'd put in to their clan in the last year, he would be extraordinarily willing to allow 2-3 of his best males to help the crew locate the missing Weasley, as long as no harm came to those males from paranoid wizards within the crew bent on locating them.

Of course Harry passed on the message to Charlie through Draco, and the young man said he would think about it. The twins got wind of this and said it was a wonderful idea, but Charlie, who hadn't been around Remus all that much when the man was alive, only had what the wizarding world socialites had told him of werewolves to go on. Draco had to remind him that Harry had spent nearly a year with them and came out unscathed. Charlie, however, was still unsure. He agreed to meet with Macoval and Harry, more to get Draco off of his back than anything. He didn't really see himself associating with werewolves.

The week had flown by, Harry working with Minerva to choose one of the charities suggested by the students for the Halloween ball, and Severus taking over the younger man's detentions while he scuttled around trying to set everything up for said ball, which would be held in 10 days time from today.

Today was the day that Harry introduced Charlie to Macoval, and he had a plan. Said plan was currently toddling beside him, gripping tightly to his hand and looking around in a confused manner. "Daddy? Why here?"

"To wait on Uncle Charlie and Macoval to get here." Harry told the boy.

"Unca Chawelery like Mac?"

"Well I should hope he turns out to." The deep baritone of the werewolf called out as he approached them.

Teddy looked up at the man and squealed. He quite liked this man, but he didn't know why. He just liked the way he smelled. "Up!" He demanded reaching his arms out. Macoval sought confirmation that came in the form of a nod from Harry, and scooped the toddler up, settling him on his lap while he took a seat in the eatery. Harry took that time to go up to the bar and order their food.

That was the scene that Charlie walked in on. Macoval with Teddy on his lap, the boy fiddling with the man's necklace and getting scolded when he tried to pull the man's hair, and Harry heading back to the table with their slip of parchment that he placed in the center which would be replaced by the food when it was ready.

The young Weasley had thought to watch their interaction for a minute before he went up to them, but what he didn't know was that both men had already known he was there. Teddy didn't know, but he would have had he not been so enthralled with Macoval's necklace.

"I still have a hard time believing that all of us has some sort of innate magic." The werewolf commented while Charlie walked up.

"Well muggles can't turn into werewolves, they die on their first transformation, so your clan, and every other clan out there, has to be witches and wizards." Harry told him, flicking his hand and pulling out a chair for Charlie and giving a welcoming nod, who sat down as prompted.

"I've been told that the first werewolf was a result of a dark spell gone wrong and it affected the blood of the wizard who had cast it, and as a result could only be successfully transferred to another magical person." The red head offered. "And that over the years it mutated kind of like a disease would so that it was transferable via any bodily fluids."

Macoval thought about this seriously for a moment. "And you say some witches and wizards are born without magic?"

"Yes, those we call squibs." Harry added.

"Well, it would explain the thus-far unexplainable deaths of some of our newborns come their first full moon." The man considered.

Charlie was curious about something else, and he figured this was the chance he was going to have to find out, so he asked. "So even though you know about the wizarding world and the Wolfsbane potion, why do you and your clan still refuse to take it?"

"Very simple really. We don't feel the need to restrain ourselves. We do not live in a heavily populated area, in fact the nearest settlement is a small wizarding community some 70 miles or more away." Teddy reached up for the man's hair again but instead found his little hand caught in his victim's mouth. Charlie was absolutely terrified, Teddy was confused, and Harry, who had seen this type of thing in the clan during his visit, seemed to not mind in the least. Macoval let out a small growl, not something very threatening but enough to let the toddler know he meant business, and to everyone's surprise, Teddy responded by growling back.

"What in the world?" Harry asked staring at the boy.

Macoval blinked slightly while the boy pinched his lip and startled him into pulling his head back, much to Teddy's delight. "Are you positively sure he's not transformed?"

"Absolutely, Severus would have told me if he had while I was gone, and I've been with him during his other full moons with nothing noteworthy happening." Harry responded.

"What in the hell just happened? Why did you bite him?" Charlie demanded half frenzied and half horrified.

Macoval raised an eyebrow. "I did no such thing. I caught his fingers in my mouth and growled to assert dominance, and if you weren't paying attention, he did not cry, yelp, or do anything that indicated pain of any sort, instead he growled right back at me."

Harry saw that the explanation wasn't going to be enough for the red head, so he supplied more. "When a werewolf in human form does that, they cover their teeth with their lips so as not to hurt the child and they barely put any pressure on them. It's roughly the same amount of pressure you use when you're holding Draco's hand during a lazy afternoon. Nearly nonexistent, just enough to let you know something's there."

Charlie looked at the happily squealing baby and leaned back some in an attempt to relax. Truth be told, he remembered seeing his mother doing such things when Ron and Gi-... right... she wasn't supposed to be talked about anymore. When Ron was a baby. It wasn't just a werewolf thing if normal wizarding families did it too. "Fine." He replied shortly.

"Why did you ask if he'd transformed before?" Harry wondered.

"Although I've not had much experience with wizards before you came along, I had never heard of a non-werewolf child growling back like that."

"Perhaps he was simply mimicking you." Harry oddered.

"Perhaps... we shall see though." He covered the toddler's ears. "May we possibly get one of the other patrons of this place to grab your arm suddenly and have you yelp out as if in pain to gauge the child's reaction?" He asked, uncovering the boy's ears.

"Why not have one of us do it?" Charlie inquired.

"If he sees one of us do it, he might start to distrust us and that isn't what we want to happen." Macoval explained.

Harry nodded and glanced around looking for someone who might be willing to do so and wound up asking a wizard who looked to be about 40-something. He had to bribe the man with 5 galleons, but he wound up saying yes. They came back while the food popped in to place, and Harry sat down. Teddy was sat facing the two while the man wandered around seemingly looking at wall hangings and Harry cast a silencing charm.

The stranger walked by, grabbed Harry on the arm lightly to which he responded by yelping out and recoiling. What was unexpected though, was that Teddy growled at the man, and not in the playful way he'd growled at Macoval earlier. The little toddler's growl sounded quite a bit more deadly than any toddler's growl should by Charlie's standards, and the child bore his teeth at the man which morphed into sharp fangs identical to those of a werewolf's. The man promptly emitted a shaky high pitched noise and ran away with Harry's money in his pocket.

When the man fled the establishment, Teddy gave a small half growl half snap towards the door and morphed his teeth back into their normal state while his hair transformed into a bright orange color and his attention focused on the food. Harry suddenly had a thought. "What if his inherited metamorphmagus genes counteracts the forced transformations some how? Like, what if he did transform his very first full moon, but because of the metamorphmagus genes was able to turn back to what he knew was normal?"

"What precisely does this meta gene allow him to do, aside from switch hair colors nearly constantly?" Macoval asked.

"He can add and subtract extra fingers from his hands." Charlie supplied.

"His mum could morph her facial structure into that of most animals, and her body structure into any type of person or combination of people she chose." Harry added. "But she had to study the animal structures before she could do those."

"So if he does transform during the full moon, but transforms back thanks to what he knows is normal, is it possible he could have forwent the studying of the structure of a werewolf's teeth to be able to do that?" Macoval wondered.

"Well it makes sense, aside from the whole 'werewolves lose their mind while they're transformed' deal. If he had transformed he would have lost his human mind and shouldn't have been able to realize what was normal." Harry thought aloud while he piled pizza on to their plates.

The rest of the meal was spent with Charlie and Macoval talking amongst themselves, the former of the two slowly coming to terms with the fact that his previous notions of werewolves in human form were terribly wrong. They spoke on Teddy and possible theories surrounding his rather surprising revelation today, and Harry promised to get back to the visiting werewolf if he found out anything new.

**(¯`·. Hp/Ss .·´¯) **

Severus stared blankly at his husband who had just just asked him the oddest question. "Is this a joke of some sort?"

"What? No. Why would you say that?"

"Well you must admit, 'How does a werewolf who doesn't take Wolfsbane not lose his mind during a transformation' sounds like an opening to a bad joke."

"It was a legitimate question, I truly want to know." Harry said with some exasperation.

"Why?"

And so Harry spent the next 40 minutes relaying the conversation from the restaurant. "-so it all fits, except for the losing his mind part. Maybe his mum or dad did something during her pregnancy that made it... I don't know, something."

A thought struck Severus. "Mrs. Lupin did take Wolfsbane alongside her husband during the full moons as a precautionary effort. Neither of them knew if a baby werewolf would transform within the womb during the full moon or not, so it was some off-the-wall thing suggested by Madame Tonks to keep them from 'fritzing' as they called it. I know this because they doubled the order for about 6 months."

"So wait... Tonks had Wolfsbane in her system during most of her pregnancy even though she wasn't a werewolf? Did they not worry about it doing something to the child, or her?" Harry demanded.

"Oh yes, they worried, they also did lots of research, asked lots of questions, most of which I couldn't answer, and spoke with several wizards who had studied werewolves for most of their lives. In the end they decided to go with it and hope it worked if Teddy turned out to be a werewolf."

Harry shook his head a bit then stopped suddenly. "Wait... Wait, Tonks took it during 2/3 of her pregnancy... is it possible that thanks to all of the Wolfsbane introduced to Teddy during his development that it may have somehow... I don't know, became a permanent fixture in him?"

Severus thought about this for a few moments then shrugged. "I haven't a clue."

"Well how do we find out?"

"Again, I haven't a clue." Severus sighed. "This is uncharted territory. Yes werewolves born to one werewolf parent and one wizarding parent have been studied thanks to the registration laws, but to our knowledge there has never been a werewolf born to a werewolf and a metamorphmagus. To our knowledge this is a first in history and I wouldn't be surprised if once the boy's biological parentage came out wizards would want to study him and be filled in on his life until that point."

"I'm not too fond of the thought of random witches and wizards studying my son." Harry commented with crossed arms.

"Nor am I." Severus concurred. "We shall cross that bridge if the time comes."

"Do you never have an exit strategy?" Harry asked, not realizing until it was too late that he might have said the wrong thing judging by the look Snape was giving him. "I mean, that's not to say that things don't normally work out, just-"

"Do you really want to know that answer?"

"What... what do you mean?"

"I mean are you prepared to know the answer to a question you didn't think all the way through."

"You're making a bit of a big deal out of this. I'd simply asked because you always seem to say that we'll deal with things when they come about and make no plans."

"Yes, I do have exit strategies. I always have an exit strategy. If I do not have one before something comes up, then I form one within days of it coming up and revise it over the course of the next few weeks. No, I did not have an exit strategy for the possibility of people demanding to study Teddy, but rest assured that within the next week I will have formed one and began revision on it to make sure it would work." Severus explained.

"On everything?"

"Everything."

"Holidays going awry?"

"Yes."

"The possibility of the Wolfsbane improvement attempt poisoning your volunteer?"

"Yes."

"Oi, that sounds awful. I'd hate to have to come up with an exit strategy for that." Harry commented curling up on the couch and wondering what he was going to do tomorrow for his 5th year Slytherins and Ravenclaws. They had been doing superbly together lately and he wanted to reward them for the effort they- wait... Everything? "Our marriage?"

Harry's question met silence. His brows shifted into a worried fashion as he studied Severus' face. Finally the man spoke. "Everything."

It felt like his world was closing in on him. Severus had went into this marriage with a plan should it fail. Harry hadn't even considered the possibility of its failure. How could the man have done this? How could he sit there night after night and claim to love Harry, when in the back of his head he had a plan to run away from their life together should things go south? "Why?"

"Because it's how I keep myself alive, sans that time you saved me from that blasted snake. That was the one time I didn't have an exit strategy as I was ready to die."

"Why with us? What's your exit plan?" Harry demanded, choosing to ignore his comment about dying.

"With us because anything has the possibility to go under. My plan revolves around how it might go under. If it's a small enough problem, a short separation should be adequate. If it's something that can not be solved without our permanent splitting, I shall leave and you and the children shall take the manor and house-elves."

"You... You'd leave? Just like that over some argument?" Harry couldn't believe his ears.

"No, if it were simply an argument, I'd stay and yell at you for a while, assume you'd yell back, and we'd work on figuring it out. Leaving is a worse-case scenario."

"Like what?"

"Like you tiring of me or falling in love with someone else." Severus admitted. "Everything else I'm fairly sure we could work out."

"Your ultimate exit strategy... revolves around _my _leaving _you_?"

"No, my _ultimate _exit strategy revolves around your, Alden, and Teddy's deaths."

"You... wait... What?"

"If you, Alden, and Teddy were to die, sufficed to say I would not see much of a point in living myself."

Now Harry really couldn't believe his ears. His worries about the man leaving him of his own accord had been put to rest, but they'd been replaced by worries of the man ending his own life at the loss of his family.

Severus seemed to see this worry and sought to put the young man's mind at ease... as truthfully as he could. "Mind you that is in the event that you all perish not just one of you, one or more of you do not stay around in ghost form, and Minerva leaves me alone for more than 5 minutes, which she undoubtedly wouldn't do. I'd be promoted to Deputy Headmaster so I would always have to be under her foot so fast the entire student population's heads would spin."

"You're getting promoted as Deputy Headmaster?" Alden asked sleepily walking into the sitting portion of their chambers.

"Not likely any time soon, and if I were it would be against my will." Severus informed the boy. Augh, saved from an agonizing conversation with Harry ab-

"Severus, why? If all of that were to happen I would want you to go on and be happy." Harry stated seriously, not bothering to stop the conversation simply because Alden was in the room.

The older wizard sighed and glanced to the confused 14 year old then back to Harry. "Because I wouldn't be happy if all of that happened. I am happy with where I am now. I've a family that loves me, several members of which I never thought in a million years I would refer to as family, namely you and the Weasleys. How could you expect me to go on knowing that the one person who gave me a reason to not end it all was gone forever, then the two people who later came into our lives and gave me more reason to live were taken from me permanently as well?"

Alden blinked suddenly. "This is one of those deep meaningful adult conversations that I really shouldn't be listening to, isn't it?"

"You're old enough to hear if that's what you're worried about." Harry told the boy. "It's one of those conversations that began with my being stupid and butting in where my nose didn't belong. By the way, why aren't you sleeping in your dorm anymore?"

"You guys said I could sleep here if I wanted." Alden commented sheepishly.

"Yes, but we hadn't expected it to turn into a nightly routine. Not that you're not welcome, because you most certainly are and we've no problem with it at all. It's just worried me."

"Severus charmed the dorms to block magic from people under the age of 18 and now that I'm having frequent nightmares I quite like to keep a silencing barrier around my bed so I don't keep waking everybody else up with my screams. I can't do that there, but here I can."

"Your nightmares are that bad that you're waking up screaming?" Harry asked slightly astonished.

"Sometimes..."

Severus sighed. "Those charms were put into place to keep randy teenagers from having sex within the dormitories. If you had simply asked-"

"I wouldn't. It would be favoritism, and then other students would see me casting magic around my bed and may try to use nightmares as an excuse to go off and get... well... you know." Alden blushed a little. Really, 12 am was not the time to be having a conversation about sex with your parents.

"That doesn't matter." Harry stated most annoyed. "What matters is you're having nightmares that wake you up screaming with frequency. What's going on to make that happen?"

"I have no idea. Sometimes they're about things that are happening in life in the present, other times they're memories of things that have happened, and then other times they're just off the wall crazy nonsensical nightmares about things that could never happen."

"Why doesn't it seem to matter that he's using silencing charms for this?" Severus asked.

"Because he's being considerate of others." Harry commented. When he received a strange look from his lover he expanded on that statement. "When I was in school I had nightmares all the time thanks to good old Voldemort invading my mind whenever he damn well pleased. You've no idea just how much of those death eater meetings I saw Severus, and I saw more than enough to know exactly what went on." Severus paled, if that was even possible with his pasty complexion. "Yes, I even saw what you had done. Don't give me that look, that's not my point. My point is that those nightmares, or night-visions as Hermione dubbed them, would send me into a state of terror and on nearly a tri-weekly basis I would wake up screaming. After I'd woken up the entire dorm four times, I thought to use a silencing charm since the nightmares couldn't be stopped, and everyone was quite a bit more satisfied when that happened."

"While you may not have had someone then to wake you before you got to the screaming point, you have someone now, and I will not tolerate you, or Alden, using silencing charms to cover up your nightmares." Both of the others looked appropriately ashamed and Severus narrowed his eyes at his husband. "You've been using silencing charms since we've began this relationship, haven't you?"

"I'd rather not answer that if I don't have to." Harry told the man.

"In other words, yes." Severus hissed. Really, did the young men actually think that their nightmares weren't important? Even he knew it was best when someone was there to bring you out of a nightmare state instead of dealing with it on your own. "No more silencing charms from you two for the use of nightmares."

Alden blinked slightly confused. "Why do you keep specifying for nightmares? We already realize that."

"Think boy. Screams are not the only thing silencing charms are used for covering up." Severus snapped.

Alden's eyes flew wide open. "Oh ew, I didn't want to think about that between you two. Oh Merlin."

Harry laughed outright at this while Severus simply raised an eyebrow. The younger of the two addressed the teen. "I think he was actually talking about you."

"But I don't have a girlfriend, and if I did I wouldn't bri- oh... Oh. Oh! No! Ew! How can you even... I don't... Augh!" Alden's hands flew to his head and he held it as if he were drunk and trying to steady himself.

Harry was cracking up. For a conversation that had started off so solemn and serious, it had sure turned amusing. "Really, don't be so surprised." He stated with a chuckle. "Just because we're parents and professors doesn't mean we don't realize what you lot do. In case you've forgotten, we were in your position before."

"Oh my god!" Alden screeched. "Please don't use wording like that."

"Really, you don't seem to have a hard time talking about these things with Fred and George." Severus commented off-handedly.

"How did you know I'd asked them questions?" Alden squeaked.

"Other than the fact that you just admitted it, because we asked them to make themselves available to you in that area should you feel the need to ask something along those lines of someone you trust." The dark wizard stated.

"And since they act the most like teenagers of all of us, they were the ones we'd chosen because they'd be most relate-able." Harry offered.

Alden simply stared blankly at the two then shook his head. "I think I'm going to go fall asleep and when I wake up, I'm going to pretend this conversation was a nightmare."

"Right, good luck with that." Harry commented. "I had a hell of a time trying to forget it when Minerva gave us all 'the in-depth talk'."

"Why would Aunt Minnie do that?" Alden wondered from the hallway.

"Part of the fourth-year curriculum." Severus informed him. "When the students return from the Christmas holidays, each fourth-year class is pulled aside by their head of house the first evening and given a sort of lecture on sex, though it's not nearly as in depth as the name suggests since the one most children receive from their family some time after their 17th birthday covers quite a lot more ground."

Alden let out another noncommittal noise, quite mortified at the prospect of having Severus lecture all of the fourth-year Slytherins. He stalked off to his room mumbling about Christmas being too close as it was only 2 months and a week away. Perhaps he could talk Fred and George into giving him some of that candy that made people sick and skip that speech.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

"And since you lot have been working so wonderfully together, you get a reward." Harry told the 5th year Slytherins and Ravenclaws who had him for Defense this period. Murmurs started flying across the room, mainly speculations of what kind of rewards they would get. Harry chuckled at one of the students' comments. "No Ms. Roper, your rewards is not lack of class." The students snickered lightly and she was, yet again, amazed at how Professor Potter could hear her over the hubbub when she was sure to be so quiet. "Instead we'll be going on a sort of field trip to an area within the school shrouded in secrets. Yes Mr. Dodderidge?"

"If it's within the school, wouldn't we have already been there?"

"Absolutely not. Yes Ms. Potts?"

"Where is it?"

"You're just going to have to wait and see. Now, everybody gather your things, and cast those charms you've learned from Professor Flitwick to keep your robes clean. We're going to a rather dusty place." Harry ordered. Minutes later they were walking down the halls, neither class aware that they were about to get both their house's dreams come true. "Now, I've had a bit of a hard time setting this up with Headmistress McGonagall, in fact it's taken all week, hence why the trip is today instead of Monday like I had wanted it to be. The Slytherins will appreciate this as a link to their founder's mystery, and the Ravenclaws as a chance to study something so few people have ever had the luck to see." He chatted on with them about various school trivia, until they finally reached the second floor.

"Uhh, why are we headed towards the girl's bathroom?" Craig Kneen, a Slytherin asked.

"It's not one we actually use." Susanna Mirfield, a Ravenclaw, informed him. "It's haunted by Moaning Myrtle."

"That is correct, but it is also home to something much more grand." Harry supplied opening the doors and ushering the children inside.

"Ah there you are Mr. Potter." Minerva's voice came out from beside the sinks. "Are you sure you wish to go through with this?"

"Yes Ma'am." Whispers started flying.

"And the... you-know-what, it has been taken care of?"

"Cleaned up thanks in part to the house-elves, but most Professor Snape's hunger to get hold of such potion ingredients."

"Right then." The woman turned to the confused looking class and with a small shake of her head began her speech. "You will be careful in this place, while it has been cleaned a great deal it is still rather unsanitary, hence why you will all be expected to cast the purification charms around your heads. Do that now if you please." Scattered whispers of '_Purgaera_' could be heard and everyone had an area of clean breathing air around their heads. "Now, do be careful, no splitting from the group, if we catch someone who has split from the group the entire thing shall be called off, and no stray spells. Do you understand?"

The class chorused, 'Yes Headmistress McGonagall', and Harry gave a slight nod. He ushered them back and felt a nervousness rising in his chest as he located the engraved sink fixture. With one last glance back to the children and a small prayer to any deities that might be listening to keep them in line, he hissed in parseltongue and the sinks started their dance-like movements, opening up as requested.

The students gasped and gazed in awe, many of them finally figuring out just where they were going. They were surprisingly silent as the last sink fell into place and they peered in to the gaping hole. "Torches have been placed along the walls to help with your ability to see, rubble from an old cave-in has been removed to help you walk, passages that lead into the school have been sealed off to keep you from wandering off, and with the help of the best transfigurations professor to ever grace Hogwarts halls, a thin staircase has been added to assist in your ability to get from here to there without having to slide down a mucky dirty pipe as I've had to do. For those of you who have absolutely no idea where we are, or are simply seeking confirmation for such an outlandish idea, we are standing in front of the opening to the Chamber of Secrets crafted by none-other than our own Salazar Slytherin."

Various noises of differing intensities thanks to a range of emotions from elation to astonishment, and even a bit of fear, echoed throughout the bathroom. Minerva interrupted them. "Much like many of the forbidden corridors within Hogwarts walls, if you stay on the path appointed to you and with your guide, nothing harmful will happen, but if you go off on your own, you may find your very own Fluffy."

Of course the students had no idea what she meant by this so Harry had to explain the three-headed dog that the trio had wandered across during their first year. That tale, accompanied by the the one of the 60 foot basilisk that he told as they made their way into the chamber itself, was well enough to keep them on their toes.

Harry took up the lead showing them various bits of the chamber and explaining their purposes. That he mostly knew thanks to Salazar's notes in the diary he'd found in the private office type room within the chamber. Minerva took up the rear keeping an eye on the children so as to ensure they would not try to split from the group.

The Ravenclaws asked lots of questions which both adults tried their best to answer, though some of the questions simply couldn't be answered. The Slytherins wanted a more in depth story about what had happened with the basilisk.

Round about the middle of Harry's tale, the Mirfield girl spoke up again. "Professor Potter, what's that?" She asked, pointing towards a strange silver circle thing sitting in one of the nooks in the beard of Slytherin's statue.

Harry stopped his story and looked towards the object with a slight confusion. How could he have missed that when they were cleaning the place up over the last week? Not only himself but the house-elves too? Well, it was almost perfectly hidden thanks to the lack of light and Ms. Mirfield was known for her surprising ability to solve puzzles, find hidden clues, and search out things that no one else took the time to notice before. "I don't know." He stated simply, walking towards the thing. He slowly reached out his hand to touch it and when his skin made contact with the surprisingly smooth surface of whatever it was, a blast of silver light shot from the object then seemingly fell back into it. "Minerva, get the children out now."

"What about you?" She asked already ushering the boys and girls to the stairs.

"I need to see what this might do." He said levitating the thing with his wand a bit. A few of the children glanced back to see what was happening and gasped when they came to the same conclusion he had. It was an egg of some sort.

**(¯`·. Hp/Ss .·´¯)**

"You don't think the basilisk I killed could have laid an egg down there, do you?" Harry asked looking over the object that was currently suspended in the air encased in a lavender mist that they had shot at it when it started glowing silver. While the mist didn't stop the glow, it contained it.

"I can think of three reasons why that is improbable." Severus commented.

"Oh really? Do tell."

"One, the basilisk was over 60 feet long and wider than you are tall. Had it lain an egg, said egg would be at the very least three times larger than this based on its relative size and normal egg-to-snake ratio. Two, the basilisk died 8 years ago, and while the chamber had enough of a preservation charm on it to keep the remains usable after that long, it would not have enough to keep an egg lain by said basilisk alive that long without it already hatching. Three, and perhaps most importantly, the basilisk was a male and thus could not lay eggs."

"Well when you put it that way I guess it kinda makes sense." Harry grumbled keeping the mist refreshed with his hand lazily pointed towards its general direction.

"What about the glowing thing?" Alden asked curiously. He was a bit jealous that Harry had taken his house-mates to see the chamber and not him, but he didn't want to say anything about it.

"You mean that it started this whole silver glowing deal specifically after I'd touched it?" Harry asked, receiving a nod. "Yeah, I think I might have set off some sort of spell on it that might make me sick, or worse."

"So that's why you're closed up in there?" The boy asked.

Harry glanced to the almost transparent cube that contained him and the egg. "Yup."

"And you don't want us to get sick or worse in case you are." The boy said almost sadly.

"Precisely." Harry said with an almost apologetic look. Suddenly the egg began to shake slightly. All eyes turned to watch it as a tiny hole was formed from the inside out. A kind of scaly beak poked out from the egg, followed by a forked tongue. A small screech sounded, a very birdlike screech. The group stared at the creature as it's scaled and feathered head popped out, the feathers matted down in a most unpleasant looking way.

"What in the world?" Alden asked.

"Is that what I think it is?" Severus wondered aloud.

"Holy Merlin, that's an occamy." Harry said with wide eyes.

"How did it get to Scotland?" Severus demanded.

"I've no idea!" Harry said in a flustered state while the creature eyed him half sitting in it's egg, which was still floating in the air.

"Where's it supposed to come from?" Alden asked.

"India." Harry supplied.

"The Far East in general. They aren't supposed to be in the UK." Severus supplied. "In fact, it's a class 4 magical creature that's very aggressive and protective over its family. "

The occamy peered around at the people surrounding it, not really noticing the nearly transparent barrier between the one person and the others. What a strange looking bunch of creatures, and what was this weird... stuff that was surrounding it? It let out a sound that was similar to a sneeze then another bird-sounding call.

"Did you hear that pitiful little sound?" Harry asked with eyes not moving from the thing.

"Oh Merlin." Severus knew where this was going to head. Harry would want to keep it and not give it up to someone who could properly care for it, and thus would wind up spending extra time learning about how to do so, and there would ultimately be yet another addition to the family. The immediate family. A (possibly) werewolf metamorphmagus, a rather large cobra that had been born into magic, and whatever you would call Harry now that he had that whole... fracture in his being thing thanks to siphoning the Dark Lord's power. And now, a snake-bird... "We're going to run a foster home for magical creatures of all sorts before this is all over with."

Harry's eyes widened and he looked to his husband while the occamy mimicked his movement. "Can we?" He asked seriously.

"Only if you quit teaching." Snape stated caustically.

"Oh." Harry commented with a sad look. He gave the creature a serious once-over and sighed. "Well it looks like we'll have to give it to someone who can take care of it."

Snape blinked in surprise. That wasn't what he was expecting the young man to say in the least. Alden looked on curiously. "What about Hagrid?"

"Hagrid's not allowed to have any creatures above class 2 any longer. Long story." Harry supplied, reaching out his hand and petting the the feathers and scales, earning a rather strange sound from the creature that might be described as purring... by a drunk wizard with hearing problems.

"What about whoever put it there?" Alden wondered.

Harry's eyes lit up again as he had an idea of who might know just who had brought the thing into Hogwarts to begin with. "Dobby!" He called out awaiting the excitable elf's entrance.

When he popped in, Harry was about to ask if he knew where the egg came from, but Dobby beat him to the punch. "Oh Master Harry Potter Sir has found Kiffy's occamy egg!"

"Kiffy's?" Harry and Severus asked at the same time.

The house-elf hopped around from one foot to the other most happily. "Yes Sirs, Kiffy has been transporting eggs of magical creatures for Kiffy's master and sometimes leaves them eggs in the kitchens or the chambers if Kiffy is called away."

Harry hmm'd thoughtfully. "Well that explains how it got into the Chamber of Secrets. Kiffy! Ah there you are. Here, I think this belongs to you."

The small elf squealed in delight. "Ohhh Master Potter Sir found Kiffy's occamy egg and even hatched it for Kiffy! Master Potter Sir is so thoughtful!" She squeaked out while cradling the creature who was studying her. "What can Kiffy do to repay Master Potter?"

"Well, you could tell me if the silver light the egg emitted when I touched it is going to kill me or not." Harry requested.

"Oh no Sir! Master Harry will not die, the egg light was just Master's protection charm to scare predators away from eating poor little eggy."

"Right... I suppose then that I can come out of here." Harry said with a grin. Just as Kiffy was about to pop off, he tried to hand her the shell pieces, but she refused saying that they were useless, then went on her way followed by Dobby. Useless? These were pure silver, _actual _silver. These shell pieces would make a very substantial bit of money being sold to a jeweler. Was Kiffy and her master not aware of this?

Just then, Draco's head popped in to their floo. "We found Bill."

"That's great!" Harry said. "Where was he?"

Draco simply shook his head. "You're not gonna like this, you'd better come over here. Bring Severus, leave Teddy and Alden." He ordered, then popped his head back out of the fire.

What happened to Bill?


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Minerva put Teddy down to bed, then Alden came in wanting to know what was going on that made his parents suddenly leave. She sighed and simply told him she didn't know, all she was told was that it was an emergency and she was asked to take care of the two until they came back.

Harry and Severus made their way through the floo, both slightly concerned at the group of silent Weasleys surrounding the couch. It was a very rare time when all of the Weasleys were together and not a sound could be heard. Molly took her gaze from her son and went over with Draco to the new arrivals. Her face was as red as her hair.

Oh no. Harry's heart felt like it stopped mid-beat. If Molly was crying, which rarely happened, and the Weasleys were all so silent, which happened even less, that could only mean... Molly gave the couple a small smile and pulled them both into a hug. Even as displeased as Severus was with the fact that this woman felt the need to hug them every time she saw them, he allowed it because he felt empathy for her, and realized that should he be in her situation, he'd probably seek human contact as well. For the first time in nearly 2 decades of knowing her, and the last 2 years of being directly involved within her life thanks to Harry, Severus wrapped his arms around her and hugged her back. She cried.

Harry slipped away with Draco, who he desperately wanted to speak to but he didn't want to break the tense silence. He slipped his way into the apprehensive crowd and felt his heart speed up greatly when he saw Bill's limp form lying on the couch of Malfoy Manor. The mixture of both old and new bruises all along his topless torso were hard to look at. The copious amounts of blood that had dried in various shades on his mouth, chest, and neck combined with the dirt nearly everywhere was proof of a hard time wherever he had been. Then something happened.

Bill's chest rose ever so softly, and upon his exhale, a wheezing sound could barely be heard. Though he didn't take another breath for a good 10 seconds after that, one thing was certain. Bill was breathing, which meant he was alive. By Merlin he was alive! Harry's hand flew to his mouth as his knees shook slightly, and he'd understood now why Molly had been crying. Not of mourning, but of relief. The Weasleys were silent because Bill... Bill was sleeping.

He quickly turned and grabbed on to Ron, squeezing him tightly and earning himself an embrace just as hard as the one he was giving. He looked to Severus who looked up from from Molly's shoulder back at him, and Harry smiled while tears started streaming down his face. Severus gave his own gesture of relief and pried the woman from around his neck offering to make her, and the rest of the Weasley crew, some tea. She accepted and apologized at the same time, wiping at her eyes. "It's quite alright, just don't expect me to make a habit of returning the emotion very frequently."

She laughed softly and looked up at the man. "Now Severus, I know better than that." Molly rejoined the group while Severus went to make some tea, and Arthur followed him into the kitchen in desperate need of some time away from the others.

After nearly an hour of standing, sitting, speaking with the others in the kitchen, and generally worrying if Bill was going to make it through the night or not while the Medi-Wizard they'd called took his sweet damn time, Bill opened his eyes which he promptly shut again and turned his head painfully towards the couch end. He opened his mouth to say something, but the ragged noisy breath he'd taken formed into hoarse coughs that shook his entire body, jostling something around that caused him to clutch his chest in a pain like he'd only felt once before. As his coughing died down and his wheezy breath slowed, he tried to tell the blobs standing around him that his ribs were broken by pointing frantically at his left chest area. However, as his motor control wasn't nearly as sharp as it felt, he wound up simply flopping his hand around for a moment before dropping it to the side.

Harry learned at that moment how painful it was to watch someone you care about in such a state. While he may not have known Bill in much more than an extended family way, he knew Ron, Molly, Arthur, and the twins in a very close familial way. Watching someone who felt like a cousin struggling to breath and losing control of their movements was hard, yes, and it was even tear inducing, however... watching your brother doing those things was heart-breaking, and in the Weasley Seniors cases, watching this happen to your _son_ was soul-crushing.

He thought of Alden and Teddy, wondering what it might feel like to see them in a similar position, and quickly realized that he simply couldn't imagine the feelings that would course through him at a moment like that. He was, however, intensely amazed at the ease in which his mind spiraled out of control viewing scenario after scenario of the horrible things that could happen to his precious children. For quite possibly the first time in the last 2 years of having children, he knew what it felt like to be a parent frightened on behalf of your child who was unobservant of the dangers that lurked around them.

Harry looked over to Severus who, by the looks of things, was anxious to get to the boys as well. He kept flicking his gaze back at the fireplace. The younger wizard pulled Mrs. Weasley off to the side. "Molly, I'm sorry but I need to go. I just really need to see Alden and Teddy right now. It's not that I don't-"

"Go dear, I understand." She said with a nearly sad longing look in her eyes. She gave a small nod to Severus while the two disappeared into the floo.

Alden looked up in a most startled way when the door to his parents' chambers opened so suddenly and he was wrapped up in a tearful hug full of Harry. Severus looked on at them with some sort of unknown emotion sprawled on his face and made his way to Teddy's room where he picked up the sleeping toddler.

Minerva came back from the restroom to find Severus sitting on the couch rocking the youngest very lightly looking as if he were trying to calm himself down a bit, and Harry tearfully clinging to a very confused Alden simply refusing to let go. She slipped quietly out of the room deciding to wait until tomorrow to ask what was going on.

**(¯`·. Hp/Ss .·´¯)**

Ahhh Halloween. Possibly the best holiday during the entire year if you happened to be a UK based charity organization well known in the wizarding world. Of course, that was thanks to Harry and the students of Hogwarts wanting to have fun again. Now that Bill was back and safe, though still very beat up and just barely able to talk, Harry felt like he might actually be able to enjoy the holiday.

Severus was dreading it with a fiery passion that could fuel 1,000 suns. Most of the school's children, years three through seven, had remembered the fun they had in '98 at the Halloween ball and knew that Professor Potter was planning another. The Slytherins and the Ravenclaws banded together and had somehow managed to wrangle Headmistress McGonagall into forcing Severus to go along with some cockamamie plan to surprise Harry in thanks for doing the ball again, and while Severus had no qualms with surprising his lover, he did have a problem with how they were going about it.

Most of the 7th years who had been requested to run booths tonight were working together whilst Harry was running around making the final adjustments. Severus had been wrapped up into convincing the Bloody Baron to refuse to introduce it again this year, as well as having him convince the other ghosts within the castle to refuse if asked.

Snape was also wrapped up in, Merlin forbid, keeping Harry out of the Great Hall whilst the 7th years decorated it. That wasn't what was so annoying. What made him irritated beyond belief was the fact that Harry seemed to be trying every five minutes to get into the Great Hall to make sure everything was going fine, and Severus was running out of excuses that couldn't be put off to keep him out. Pretty soon he would have to resort to actually restraining the young professor unless something happened to help him out.

And something did happen. Alden came walking into the corridor and started pulling on the robe sleeves of both men. "Come quick, Draco's here with Serenity!"

They rushed to their shared rooms to find the pale blond standing there with a very frantic cobra slithering from one arm to another whilst flicking her tongue constantly.. When Serenity smelled Snape's approach, she made a b-line for the floor and tried to meet him half way.

Severus had never seen his snake act this way before, and he'd most certainly never had whomever he'd paid to feed her while he was at work bring her in before. Draco answered the unasked question. "She wouldn't leave me alone when I went to feed her, she just kept getting up on me and squeezing my arm. I didn't even know cobras could squeeze like that."

Serenity was hissing away and Harry was listening intently, giving a small hiss himself every few seconds. When Harry's face paled greatly, Severus couldn't stand it any more. "What's happened?"

"Hssra sssh asshhs shhhra sssh rasss hra." Harry answered.

"In English if you would!"

"Oh, sorry. She said that over the last few days the wards at the house have been weakening." He stopped while she hissed some more. "And that today it got really weak." More hissing. "And when they come back in a little while they'll break." Hissing. "And she's sorry for eating Draco's stuffed bunny when he was 7."

Draco stared at the snake. "You ate my Squishy?"

"She's sorry." Harry offered.

"How long is a little while?" Severus interrupted.

Another brief amount of hissing. "Tomorrow evening."

"We're going to the manor to build up the wards." Severus ordered, picking Serenity up from the ground and letting her wrap around his arm. "Harry, go get Minerva. Draco, go get the strongest able-bodied Weasley currently at your manor who's willing to help. Alden, please take Teddy to Poppy."

_**Massster isss worried for another reassson. **_Serenity commented.

_**What reason would that be? **_Harry asked.

The snake lifted her head a bit. _**Your tree day box isss in the houssse. **_

_**Tree day box? **_Harry had never been more confused in his life.

_**The day that you ssslither to the tree you put in the big part of home that hasss ssstrange boxes under it. **_

Ah! _**Ohhh, tree day! **_Harry stated. There was no parseltongue word for 'Christmas'. **_Why is he so worried? He knows I only want our family._**

_**It isss hisss m-**_

_**Do not tell me. It would ruin the surprise. **_Of course Serenity didn't understand what he meant by that, so he promised to explain it later while he went to go get Minerva.

**(¯`·. Hp/Ss .·´¯)**

After the wards were built back up hours later to a point that it would take even them a week to take them down, everyone took a small break and Severus sought out the house-elves to find out why one of them hadn't alerted him when it first started happening. He started to worry a bit when he didn't find them in their quarters and they wouldn't come when called. It was with great relief that he found them all alive and healthy, just cowering in fear in some strange bubble type of thing on the other side of the property where the wards had ended.

It took a combination of his and every of the elves' power to get them out, but it was done. After much apologizing, descriptions of the men who had done this to them, and lots of calming of the house-elves, Severus made his way back to the manor, where he found the group inside in the sitting room.

More specifically, everyone but Harry, Alden (who Minerva had drug along for some reason), and Serenity. He found them in the kitchen. Both of the wizards were deeply engrossed in a conversation, and Serenity... well... Serenity was basking in what appeared to be adoration, as both of the others were petting and feeding her. Even though she had just been fed earlier that day.

Severus rose an eyebrow and cleared his throat. "What have I said about coddling my cobra?"

"But Sev, she absolutely loves it." Harry protested.

"And she's so friendly, you made her out to be all mean." Alden added.

"She was mean." Severus stated. Harry looked to the snake who nodded affirmative and Snape simply shook his head. "Come on then, back to Hogwarts."

Just as they were exiting the room, Serenity hissed something at them and Harry went back to pick her up. Upon Severus' questioning look, he shrugged. "She doesn't want to stay here in case they come back. She's scared."

Another small grump-fest about them spoiling his cobra ensued, and they had reached Hogwarts before Snape realized that yes... they had indeed brought the snake along. He sighed and went off to find Teddy to take him back to Malfoy Manor while they got ready for the Halloween Ball which was starting in 20 minutes.


	10. Chapter 10

_**A/N: **_Evy (and other confused people): Bill was pretty beat up and couldn't talk in chapter 9 (by the end he could barely talk, and one or two words every 10 minutes or so is definitely not enough to tell the people around you what happened.) so he couldn't relay what happened. You will find out, do not fear. Sorry for confusing you.~

**Chapter 10**

"I haven't been able to do a single thing today for the ball! There was no one there who was able to make sure everything got set up right so it's going to be ruined and the kids will be angry with me and I'll make their Halloween awful and they'll boycott Defense and I'll have to apologize to the UK Association for Preservation of Endangered Magical Creatures from Foreign Countries, although I could probably just give them one lump sum from my vaults in-"

Severus put his hands on Harry's shoulders and shook him lightly. "Would you kindly stop worrying? You've been obsessing over this thing so much over the last week that it's starting to seem like your sensory training never happened."

"But the ball is-"

"The ball is starting in 10 minutes, you need to calm down."

"But the ghosts won't intro-"

"You can introduce it and go in with the children then go up to the stage and start your whole speech or whatever it is that you've planned."

"But the 7th years have-"

"They will be there on time. Now stop it." Severus gave his husband a halfhearted glare. "Now, I need to go in there with the other chaperones, and so help me if you stray from the introduction lines you've prepared and start apologizing for how things may or may not turn out as you are wont to do, I will shove a body shortening elixir down your throat so fast your head will spin. Got it?"

Harry nodded mutely and gulped a bit as he watched Severus retreat into the Great Hall. His heart rate was up as he wasn't only thinking about the ball tonight, but he was thinking about Bill and becoming more and more anxious to find out just how the man wound up so battered and bruised. Actually, he was trying desperately not to think about that which is why he was obsessing so badly right now.

The children began lining up outside of the doors to the Great Hall in their various costumes, most of which Harry was thrilled to see such creativity go in to. There were a few that he had to pull out of the line and order to go change back in to their uniforms, such as the 6th year standing extraordinarily tall with a pink beanie covering all of his hair, a tan shirt and khaki pants, and what appeared to be quaffles stuffed into the bottoms of his pants. Harry shook his head as the boy walked away hunched over. Really the things these kids came up with.

Whew okay, more students lining up and chattering away, all looking like they're going to have a wonderful time, and he had no idea how the hall was set up or if the booth runners were running the booths, or if the decorations were Halloween-y enough, or if the bracelets for the costume contest were all ready to go, or if- _Stop! _Harry yelled at himself. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment only opening them when the chime rang to tell him it was time.

Another deep breath. "There shall be a costume contest this evening, and each year will garner one winner. The winner of their year will receive one free product from any of the booths set up inside. You may enter." He stated as he flicked his wrists to the doors to open them.

Another deep breath and he turned around, worries abound. As he stepped through the curtain that they'd hung up over the door his eyes widened. The decorations were magnificent, even as grand as the last Halloween Ball's decorations. This time they went with a black and red theme. The booths were set up along the walls with 7th years manning them, however the Weasley twins weren't there this year as they were tending to their brother. There was, however, a Weasleys Wizarding Wheezes booth that four of the most well off students, one from each house, were running together. Apparently they had bought very nearly ¼ of the Wheezes store for this event.

The food was in the front of the room, all specially transfigured by Minerva, Harry could tell her handiwork anywhere, to look like creepy things. The popcorn looked like miniature eyeballs, the punch like blood, the cookies like spiders, and so on. The center was cleared out for a dancing area and there was a band on the back of the 'stage' of musical instruments that had been charmed to play themselves.

That wasn't what surprised Harry though, as all of that was wonderfully put together just as he had imagined it. What surprised him were the four students from the Wheezes booth taking the stage as students filled into the hall around Harry.

Doris Roshan, a Gryffindor, cast a quick _sonorus_ and started the speech addressing the students. "As most of you know, your parents have sent you some spending money last week, and those third year and up had already guessed what it was for. However, for the first and second years, that money was sent with instructions not to spend it until Halloween, and it is for the booths. The money that these booths make this year will be going to the UK Association for Preservation of Endangered Magical Creatures from Foreign Countries. The booth owners do not make a knut in profit. You are urged to spend what you want, but remember to look around and see all of the booths before you spend it all."

Harry looked very confused as to why they were making the speech instead of him. Corin Tremlett, a Hufflepuff, went on. "There will be a costume contest throughout the night, hence why you were asked to dress up for this evening. Thanks should go to the Weasley twins of the Weasleys Wizarding Wheezes for this system of participation." He pulled out a small device that looked to be a confetti popper and pulled the string on it. Nothing happened and he frowned at it, then tried again, getting blasted in the face with bracelets before they made their way out to the audience, causing giggling to go around the room. He cleared his throat and went back to the talking. "I bet they made it do that on purpose. Anyway, the bracelets are color coded for your year, and if you don't want to participate in the contest, tell it no when it reaches you."

Ian Vance, a Ravenclaw, took up the speaking bit next. "If you are caught stealing from any of the booths, you will be automatically disqualified from the contest, a minimum of 15 house points will be taken, and detentions will be set up with Professors Potter or Snape, or Mr. Filch. So no sticky fingers, especially from the Ravenclaws. I'd like to have a chance at winning the house cup this year." More giggles went throughout the room.

Harry's confusion was still around because there were only three parts to this speech, but four people. What could the fourth person possibly have to say? Emmiline Kettletoft, a Slytherin, took up the last bit. "Professor Potter, this bit is specifically for you. I was around, as were most of my year mates and those up to 2 years younger than us, when you were still a student here. To be quite frank, most of us Slytherins hated your guts. You were prized beyond what was appropriate by the Headmaster at the time, you were the, again at the time, future savior of the Wizarding World, and Gryffindor's Golden Boy which made any of the other houses' chances of winning the house cup nearly nonexistent unless someone from another house happened to die.

Those factors, along with the simple bit of you being a Gryffindor at all, had most of the Slytherins angry with you for existing. When you came back to teach directly after destroying Voldemort, my house mates and I were so far beyond apprehensive that you would favor the lions over all of the other houses so much that until your time spent as a professor here was over, no other houses would ever have a chance to win the cup again.

You proved us wrong on well over more than one occasion, the most notable being when Ravenclaw won the house cup in June of '99 despite the Savior's house alliance, and his family's opposite house alliance, which by the way, the choice in family boggled most all of our minds. You were, and still are, fair in the giving and taking of points. That fairness has also seemed to rub off on the rest of the staff, and the heads of houses no longer tend to only award points to their own houses.

While myself and most of my house-mates our year were frightened that your presence would cause even more unjust and unfair prejudice against Slytherin House, you again proved us wrong. You did not, and continue to not, tolerate house prejudice, even from your own house, as proven when you gave those Gryffindor boys what-for for harming a Slytherin simply because he was a Slytherin. For quite possibly the first time in my life, I am thankful that I was proven wrong, and I hope you continue to do so.

I think I can speak for all of the Slytherins, if not most of the school, when I say that you're the best thing that's happened to this school in over 300 years. I think I can also speak for the 6th years and below when I say, don't you dare leave like you did last year again, because we can't deal with another Dedworth, and without your planning, parties suck." Applause erupted from the staff and students and each of the students on stage blew a muggle style confetti popper with charmed paper that changed color every few seconds.

Harry was definitely surprised. By the end of the speech his hand was over his mouth, his eyes were watery, and the clapping from nearly 300 students was deafening. He simply didn't know what to say to all of that, and as the crowd around him filtered out into different areas of the Great Hall, it was Severus who led him to a corner table to get hold of himself.

**(¯`·. Hp/Ss .·´¯)**

Just after the last prize was given to the last winner of the costume contest nearly 4 hours later, which Professor Flitwick was doing, Alden came running up to Harry who was sitting in a corner enjoying some fake blood punch while watching Severus deduct house points from more snogging kids. "Harry Harry!"

Professor Potter glanced to the teen. "What what?"

"Uncle Fred just floo'd your rooms, Bill's woken up again and he's asking for you." The young boy said.

Harry looked around for Severus but had lost him in the crowd somewhere. Since he couldn't activate his bracelet unless it was heated up, he asked Alden to tell the other man if he found him. He made his way to the nearest floo, thinking it odd that Alden would rather stay in their rooms half the night than attend the entire Halloween Ball, and made his way to Malfoy Manor.

He blinked, looking around at the silent and empty house wondering just what was going on and where everybody was when a house-elf popped into the room. He gave a little bow. "Master Malfoy said if you came by to tell you all the Masters have went to the Weasley Burrow."

"Thank you Yalby." Harry said as he floo'd to the burrow. He was greeted by Fred who was standing there impatiently tapping his foot. "Why is he asking for me?"

"None of us know, he won't tell us." Fred commented bringing him into Percy's old room where Bill was.

Bill gave a pointed stare to his brother who rolled his eyes and shut the door behind him. "Silence charm... please." He forced out. Harry nodded and flicked his wrist, but Bill simply looked expectantly at him. He explained about the wandless wordless magic he was doing thanks in part to when he siphoned Voldemort's power, and in part to the training with the Liridon clan. Bill nodded. "You need to.. go.." He took a wheezy breath. "to London and..." Another painful sounding breath. "and kill Cygnus Preece."

"What? What are you talking about? Why?"

"Preece did this." Oh god those noisy breaths sounded awful.

"Who is he? What all did he do? Why did he do this?"

Bill took his wand and pulled out a memory while Harry quickly transfigured a button into a vial to hold it. "He'll kill him." The young man said before closing his eyes and drifting back off into sleep.

Cygnus Preece? What did he do and who was he going to kill? If he's in London does that mean that bill was in London when he was attacked? Augh there were too many unanswered questions and he was just going to have to watch this memory to see what the hell was going on. When he reached Hogwarts again Firenze was waiting for him by his room. "My brother asks of your mind."

"What? Oh please don't make me try to figure out what that means, I've already got a lot on my plate." Harry told the Divination professor.

The centaur nodded lightly. "My brother works in the Centaur Negotiation Unit at the Ministry and has been worried for 'the savior's subconscious', as he said. He has asked if you were experiencing anything that normally would not happen within your subconscious mind."

Harry blinked blankly. "I highly doubt I would know it if it had. I'm fine, just worried at the moment. Tell him I'm fine."

**(¯`·. Hp/Ss .·´¯)**

_**A/N: **_Bonus points to those who got the 'pink beanie' costume reference. Thanks to Alysisaacs17 for helping me come up with the sub-plot-line that's just starting that I can't say too much on or it'll spoil it (you know what I'm talking about).

_**A/N*2:**_ Sorry guys, but my mind isn't really able to keep writing on this story at the moment, so it's temporarily abandoned. -_-;


	11. Chapter 11

**_A/N:_**OMG I am so sorry this took... for frikkin ever to upload. I wanted to wait until my room was finished being painted and the trim was up, but that's still not even finished... then I got bored with Harry Potter, then I got wrapped up in other things, but I'm back now! Well... for now anyway. xD Sorry!

**Chapter 11**

Harry sighed as he poured the silver memory into the pensive that Severus had let him use. He took a breath and dropped his head into it.

_Bill's nearly nude form was sitting tied to a strange looking chair that was attached to the room at the ceiling and floor via it's back and feet. It looked like a strange mutation of a tree instead of a piece of furniture. His wrists were bound above his head, the charmed rope resting in a carved out nook that was seemingly carved out specifically for that purpose, judging by its placement. His feet were tied with the same kind of rope to the chair's legs, and his head hung down, dirty hair covering a good portion of his chest._

_The door to the room slammed open causing the eldest Weasley son to jump lightly and raise his head. Blood could be seen running down his chin. "Now maybe you'll tell me what you know." The man stated smugly._

"_I told you, I don't know anything about that." Bill said defiantly. _

"_Lies!" The man bellowed, sending his fist hurdling into Bill's solar plexus. "He sent you, didn't he?"_

"_No!"_

"_Shut up!" The man shouted, slapping Bill across the face. "Some old man from your lot is always hanging around that place like a leech. He had to have sent you through him!"_

"_Why would he send me when he could send someone more powerful, like Potter?" Bill demanded._

"_To throw me off!" The man argued back. "If he sends his precious 'friend' after me, he's telling me that he sees me as a real threat, however if he sends you he's telling me I'm not worth his concern. His underestimation of me will be his downfall once you tell me how to get in!"_

"_What the hell are you on about?" _

"_Enough of your insolence!" The man screeched. "Perhaps some more quality time with my fist will loosen your tongue." _

Harry blinked as he emerged from the memory. He was more confused now than he had been before he went in. Was this Preece? Who would send Bill after him, and what was he doing to make him think anyone had been sent after him? Who was the 'old man from Bill's lot'? Ugh, too many unanswered questions.

It was beginning to look like Harry would have to pay another visit to the Burrow if he planned on getting any answers, but that would have to wait until the classes let out today. He just wished he knew more of what was going on. And why in Merlin's name was Firenze always watching him lately?

He rubbed at his temples but stopped his ministrations suddenly when he heard Teddy whimpering from the monitoring charm he'd set up. Harry quickly made his way to the toddler's side and assessed the situation. Tossing and turning, scrunched face, clenched hands, whimpers, it definitely looked like the boy was having a nightmare. Harry picked him up and spoke softly to him, trying to reassure the toddler that he was okay. He glanced to the other bed noting that Alden was still asleep, thank goodness.

Teddy cried softly while Harry kept telling him that everything was going to be alright and clung to him, his little face buried in the young man's shirt. The man felt guilty for telling Teddy something like that when he wasn't sure himself whether things were going to be alright or not. After all, nightmares had become a nightly occurrence between the four of them, and some loon looked to be attempting to kill Bill out of paranoia.

Our young hero was beginning to wonder if maybe they were taking on too much. After all, Severus recently had to stop his Wolfsbane research because he just didn't have the time. It was beginning to look like the werewolves of the community wouldn't be able to adopt after all.

When Teddy's whimpering died down, Harry put him back into his little bed and recast the barrier charms. He gave one last check over to ensure both boys were asleep and went back to his and Severus' rooms.

Oh for the love of Merlin. "Sev, wake up." Harry called out, climbing on to the bed and grabbing his lovers' arm. Was everyone going to have a nightmare tonight? Geeze. "Sev come on, wake up now. You're having a nightmare."

Severus' eyes scrunched and he let out a shaky groan. "Wha?" The man asked, finally registering that someone was shaking him.

"You were having a nightmare... So was Teddy actually." Harry said with a sigh.

"Again?" Severus asked, more than a bit confused. That was one thing about the man, he rarely ever remembered his dreams or nightmares. In fact, the only one he could actually remember having was the one with Lucius, the Dark Lord, and the rainbow walls. Actually, when he stopped to think about it, that seemed more like a trippy ride than it did a nightmare.

"Yeah. I'm starting to think maybe someone's put something in our food because this is getting ridiculous."

"Well it's not a potion." Severus said, flopping his head back down on the pillow. "I'd be able to taste it, not to mention the elves know better than to try to dose me with anything, no matter who requests it."

"Even me or Dumbledore?" Harry asked curiously. "Well, when he was alive that is."

"Yes, to both. They'd be severely punished, as would the culprit."

"Speaking of culprits..." Harry said with a sigh. "Remember I told you about what Bill said? Well, I think this Preece guy is doing something big."

"How do you come to that conclusion?" Severus asked with a yawn.

"Well, I just watched the memory, and he was totally paranoid that someone was sending Bill after him. I think it'd just be easier if you watched it yourself rather than have me sit here and try to explain to you what happened."

"Probably." Severus said with a slight nod. "I would get up to go view it, but I seem to be unable to feel my foot."

Harry looked down and pulled the covers up a bit. He chuckled and went to work removing the obstruction. _**Hey, put me down! **_Serenity hissed as she was being unraveled from her Master's foot.

_**Sorry, but Severus needs to get up. **_Harry tried.

_**You could have sssimply sssaid sssomething inssstead of moving me around. **_The snake huffed as she uncurled her tail and made her way to Harry's shoulders. **_Nexxxt time, asssk. _**

"You know," Severus said as he watched the ensuing conversation between his husband and his snake. "one of these days I am going to find a way to understand what the hell you two are saying."

_**Why not ussse what Harry usssed? **_The snake suggested.

Harry blinked and shook his head. _**What was used to make me speak parseltongue should have killed me. I would never try to kill him. **_

Severus rolled his foot around a bit. "And now to wait for that awful prickling sensation." He stated with a grimace.

Harry laughed, but his amusement was quickly whisked away when he heard one of his alarms go off. Oh no, which one was this? He quickly walked over to his table and looked at the trinkets both on his side and Severus' side. It sounded like a fog croaking, therefore that meant it was high level magic in use not being taught in the school. The trinket that was emitting the noise was a turnip which meant... which meant... "Hey what does the turnip mean again?"

"Girl's dormitory." Severus replied. "And before you ask, yours are on the right."

"Thanks." Harry replied sheepishly. Okay, illegal use of high level magic in the Gryffindor girl's dorm. "Be back in a few."

He rushed off through the special hallway and into the Gryffindor area, then quickly made his way towards the girl's dorm. As soon as he heard frantic voices very nearly screaming, he bolted out into a run. "What's happened?" He shouted, bursting through the door and towards where a group of girls were clamoring around.

"It started just-" "She was asleep and-" "The sound was-" "Then there was light-" "We all woke up-" "But I was trying to-" "-and it looks like she's-" "-when we couldn't-" Several of the girls all said at once.

"STOP!" Harry shouted. "Areos, go get Madame Pomfrey. Stofer, tell me exactly what Ms. Malshrot was doing before this happened."

"S-she was practicing something. I don't know what though. It sounded like a charm." Leah stuttered.

This was definitely not just some charm, the girl had been doing something high level. There was no blood, no visible wounds, no magic radiating from her, no sign that she had been doing anything other than the fact that everyone seemed to be in agreement that she was doing _something _and she was unconscious.

Ms. Areos returned a few minutes later with Madame Pomfrey who assessed the situation but couldn't find anything wrong with her other than exhaustion. Whatever the child had been doing, it had drained a lot of her power.

Harry cast a quick revealing spell to see what the last spell from Marina's wand was, but it only came up blank as if the wand had never been used. That meant that whatever spell it was had been strong enough to wipe the residual memory that the magic should have left... What could it be?

Poppy took the girl to the infirmary, Harry calmed the other girls down and sent them back to bed, then he went back to his rooms.

Falling down into the bed, Severus grunted in response. "I watched the memory while you were out."

"Good, maybe you can tell me some things I don't get. For instance, who's the 'old one' from Bill's lot?" Harry asked.

"Probably Arthur." Severus mused.

"Alright, what's 'that place'?"

"Now that I've no idea. There are several places that Arthur frequents when he's off work."

"Right then... who do you think might send someone like Bill to investigate something like that?"

"I don't think Bill was there investigating anything. I think he just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. He looked to be dosed with veritaserum, judging by his eyes."

Harry furrowed his brow. "But if he was dosed with the truth serum, wouldn't he be unable to lie and therefore the Preece fella would have believed him?"

Severus shook his head. "There are ways around the truth serum. One can dose themselves with an anti-serum beforehand, or if they're exceptionally good in Occlumency, they might block the potion's effects altogether."

Harry blinked. "I never knew that!"

"The general public isn't exactly aware of that, it's something only Potions Masters and those at the Ministry are supposed to be aware of." The older man explained.

"Oh... Hey Severus? I was wondering something..."

"What is it?"

"You know how you guys would put your wands to your arms to apparate to the location of the Dark Lord when he called you and you didn't know where a location was? Well I was wondering what would happen now if that happened, because he's dead and I kind of control the mark, I was wondering if I sent out a distress call to just one person would they be able to come to me immediately, or even if I could."

Severus studied his young lover. "What did you just call him?"

"Voldemort?"

"No, I'm fairly certain you said 'the Dark Lord'."

Harry narrowed his eyebrows and looked slightly confused. "I don't... I don't think I did... I'm pretty sure I called him Voldemort. That is his name after all, and you're not answering the question."

Severus decided to let it slip this one time, but if it happened again... "Well, Voldemort could summon whomever he chose whenever he chose, so if the power was passed on to you, yes I would presume that you could do so as well. A distress call and a summons have no distinction, if someone is called through the dark mark, they are called period. No one can simply put a wand to their mark and apparate without being called though, so there's no way to find out unless you do try to call someone."

"Could... could we maybe try it?"

Severus quickly turned his entire body to face Harry and stared at him intently. "Why would you want to do that?"

"C-curiosities sake." Harry said sheepishly.

"There are only two levels of being called via the dark mark, tolerable pain, and intolerable pain. There is no making it tickle, no trying to soften it, nothing of the sort. Voldemort had done an experiment in his early days as a way to make the callings hurt less – when he still had emotions and felt pity – but that proved to be unsuccessful." Severus said.

Harry bit his bottom lip. "Oh... I thought maybe I could call you with something that would just tingle instead of hurt."

"It's simply not possible." Severus stated.

_Well he didn't say I couldn't call him... but I don't want to make him hurt anymore than I already do when he has to pull me out of the red zone. I could ask Draco, I'm sure he'd be willing to do it for money... I just really want to find out if I can do it to begin with. _Harry thought. He'd made up his mind and bid his husband goodnight.

**(¯`·. Hp/Ss .·´¯)**

"Point me... Cygnus Preece." Harry whispered. "Target locked, ready to begin."

"Alright." Hermione's voice rang through the cell phone attached to his hip. "Point Me... Cygnus Preece... Ready when you are."

Severus sighed. He didn't understand why they needed to use the muggle contraptions to speak with one another, but seeing as they were on opposite sides of the town, he supposed they did come in semi-useful. "Point me Cygnus Preece... Ready." He said into his own talking square thing.

The group started walking to where their wands pointed, all expecting to wind up somewhere in London's wizarding community's center. Imagine their surprise when Harry wound up in a muggle bar, Hermione wound up in a wizarding dance club, and Severus wound up at the gates of an ongoing Renaissance Faire before their spells all stopped working. "Uh guys?" Harry asked into his cell phone. "Where are you? I'm in a bar somewhere."

"Dance club." Hermione answered.

"I haven't the faintest idea where I am." Severus said.

"Hey, cool getup bro, you supposed to be young Merlin or something?" Hermione and Harry heard a strange voice say through their cell phones.

"Excuse me?" Snape asked.

"The wand. You look more Victorian than Renn era though, work on your costume for next year man, and Merlin had a staff not a wand. Still, it's pretty awesome." The man said. "Don't forget to check out the turkey legs, they're delicious."

"I'm apparating out of here." Severus grumbled, going off to find a suitable spot to disappear from. Hermione was cracking up. Harry, having never been to such a faire, had no idea where Severus was, but Hermione had guessed it the second the man started critiquing the era of clothing that the potions master was wearing. Snape turned off his cell phone to shut her up. Well, he'd thought he turned it off, he had just muted it so he couldn't hear them, but they could still hear him. "Excuse me, where are the restrooms?" He asked one of the women in a booth.

"Right over there." She said, pointing to giant blue boxes.

"What are those?"

"Port-a-johns." She answered.

"Indeed... thank you I suppose."

"Hey wait a sec, you look like the type of guy who has a special someone in your life. Why not get a gift for them?" The woman asked, showing off her jewelry. She picked up one of the necklaces with a red vial. "How about the dragon's blood? Ladies love that one."

Severus took no turn to correct her upon her assumption of his husband's gender. "Madame, this is not dragon's blood. No dragon on earth has blood that red. I daresay this is colored water."

"Spoil-sport, use your imagination." She scolded. "How about this for the little lady then?"

"Yes, I'm sure _she _would enjoy a faux silver pendant with a plastic marble just as well. No thank you." He said, walking off.

"Hey! I'm not a she!" Harry cried out into the phone. Hermione just laughed more.

"Hey mister? You work here?" A child asked coming up to Severus.

"No I don't." Snape replied shortly.

The boy's eyes welled up with tears. "But you wearin' a costume and I can't find mommy."

Snape couldn't hear Harry and Hermione trying to offer their advice for the situation, so he just went with his own idea. "Come along then, we'll find someone who does work here." He said, grabbing the child's hand. He walked the boy back over to the nearest booth, the woman he'd just left. "This boy's lost. Where is your security?"

She eyed the man strangely. "Out by the gate."

"Well go get them." He snarled. "I shall wait by that tree." When the woman closed up her shop, eyed him again, and went to go get the officers commissioned to help. It was nearly five minutes later before Snape looked back down to the child. "What is your mother's name?"

"Alli." He said sticking his thumb in his mouth.

Harry and Hermione had figured out that Severus had muted the phone, and Harry had taken the chance to apparate several places within London until he found, with much asking, the Renn Faire. He couldn't very well use a point me spell in a muggle place like this, he didn't have an item he could use to do the pointing. "Severus?" He yelled out.

"Tommy?" A woman yelled out, half crying and half panicked.

"Severus?" Harry yelled again.

The woman saw Harry yelling for someone and feared the worst. "Has someone taken your child?" She asked him.

"No, it's my husband." He answered. Immediately her eyes flashed with something akin to disgust. "He's found a child and he's waiting with the kid until the security guards come back, but I got here late and his phone's on mute, so he can't hear me, but I can hear him. I don't think he realizes it's muted."

Her disgust at the fact that this man was gay was quickly washed away. "Do you think he found my child?" She asked. Harry did a quick spell to replay the last thing said on the phone.

"_What is your mother's name?"_

"_Alli." A small voice replied. _

"That's my Tommy!" The woman shrieked, pointing to his cell phone.

"Thank god." Harry said relieved. "Come on, he's by a tree near a booth somewhere." He said.

"Sorry to interrupt." Hermione's voice rang out. "You're at a Renn Faire, Harry. There are going to be hundreds of booths, and even more trees."

The woman looked at the phone, deciding it was a fancy walkie talkie. "She's right." She said with a sigh.

"Ah, there you are." Severus' voice rang back out. "This boy's lost, his mother's name is Alli."

"Why did you go up to this man?" Another male voice asked.

"Cause hes got a costume." The boy said. "I thunk he worked here."

"Can't you call him on that thing?" The woman now known as Alli asked Harry.

"No, I can't. If he's muted his phone, he wouldn't hear the rings, and I'd rather not lose voice to try." Harry said.

"I'll try on my other phone." Hermione offered. A minute later she sighed. "He's not answering, it's definitely muted."

"Come along now kid, let's get you to the front gate." The second male voice said.

"I not leave without him." The boy stated.

Severus groaned. "Why do children keep attaching themselves to me?" He asked in reference to the boy's grip on his hand, not that Harry or Alli knew what he was talking about. "Fine, I'll come as well. It's not like Preece is going to be found at this rate anyway."

"Have you lost someone as well?" The second voice asked.

"No, and it's none of your business." Severus snapped.

"Are you sure he's okay to have around my son?" Alli asked, referring to the man's tone.

"Oh he's fine. We've got two children of our own." Harry told her. She eyed him warily but followed behind him back to the front gate.

As Severus was walking up, he saw the familiar mop of hair. "Harry... what are you doing here?" He asked.

"I came to look for you, you muted your phone." He told him. "This is Alli, I believe that little tyke belongs to her."

Snape let go of the boy's hand, who ran to his mom while they both cried. "I thought I turned it off."

"Nope, must have pressed the mute button. Anyway, when I heard you talking with the kid, I came here to see if I could help and found her." Harry explained.

"Yes well, I don't ever intend on using these confounded devices again." Severus said in reference to the phones. "They're confusing."

"No they're not." Hermione's voice rang out. "You're just anti-technology."

"Sir, we're going to have to ask you some questions." One of the officers said.

"Why?" Severus demanded.

"It's because you're now a suspect in kidnapping." Hermione told them, much to the officer's displeasure.

"What?" Harry yelled.

"When the kid latched on to someone, no matter who the person was, they would have automatically became a suspect in kidnapping. Lost children are common in high traffic areas such as a fair or mall, but unfortunately so are kidnappings. The officer's job is to ensure that you weren't trying to run off with the kid and just got caught. Of course the fact that you're a male also puts a bit more suspicion on you." She informed them.

"What does my gender have to do with anything?" Severus growled.

"Unfortunately she's right." The officer said with a grumble. "Now please turn that off."

"No." Harry said. "Just because you're intimidated by-"

"Harry!" Hermione said, drawing his attention back to his phone. "I'll hang up, just call me back when this is over. Cooperate with the man and don't be an idiot. I'll see if I can't figure out what we did wrong while we were looking for Preece." She then hung up the phone.

Harry and Severus were escorted down to the local station and questioned, just as Hermione had predicted, in case they were kidnappers. The two were growing increasingly irritated that these people kept asking the same questions in different ways trying to get different answers, and for the fact that they were wasting precious time that the men could be using to track down the man who nearly killed Bill.

**(¯`·. Hp/Ss .·´¯)**

Around 2 hours into the questioning, Harry's phone rang. "Turn it on speaker." The officer stated, wanting to be privy to the conversation.

Harry rolled his eyes but complied so Hermione couldn't yell at him later. It was her phone number on the caller ID. "Yeah?"

"Harry?" A young male voice asked.

Severus' attention immediately went to the phone. "What's wrong?" Both he and Harry asked at the same time.

"I'm not sure, it's something with Teddy." Alden told them. "Aunt Minnie put him down for a nap, then she had to go because the Malshrot girl's parents came by for a meeting, then Teddy started crying, and when I went in there to see what was wrong, he looked like he was having a nightmare, so I tried to wake him up, but he won't wake up. Poppy says he's okay, there's nothing wrong with him, but he just won't wake up." His voice was panicked.

"Who's got him now?" Severus asked.

"Uncle Charlie."

"Where did you get Hermione's phone?"

"He brought it over with him for me to call you when he came over to help with Teddy. I asked them to give me a way to contact you."

"Where's Poppy?"

"Standing right beside me."

"Hand the phone to her." Harry pleaded.

A few rustles went by and the men were greeted by Poppy's voice. "Teddy's vital signs are all positively normal, there's no sign of poison, when I ran the diagnostics I couldn't find anything there, it just looks like he's having a nightmare but can't wake up from it."

"In my personal cabinet there are four shelves. Go open it and tell me what color vials you see on the second shelf." Severus said.

The officer pulled Harry a bit further away. "What did he mean by 'meeting'?"

"Minerva, 'aunt Minnie', is a Headmistress of a boarding school." Harry explained. "Malshrot's parents were scheduled for a visit today. Malshrot being a girl who attends said school."

"And they haven't gotten the child to an emergency room because..."

"Because Poppy is a doctor." Harry told him.

"Okay, I see three red, one blue, seven green, two purple, and four orange." Poppy finally said.

"Okay, it's one of the green vials. Take off the tops and smell them, tell me what they smell like." Severus went on.

The officer raised and eyebrow and was about to ask what that was all about, but Harry beat him to the punch. "It's medicine. We both work at the school, he's the chemistry professor, and I teach self-defense. He keeps the medicine unlabeled so the children don't try to get into it."

"Lilies... smoke... mandrake... cinnamon... bile... nightshade-"

"Stop. That's the one. Give Teddy four drops of that, he should wake up." Severus informed her.

Poppy bristled. "Excuse me? Give your son something that smells like deadly nightshade? Now Severus, I've known you for a long time and I know you're a master in your field, but-"

"There is no nightshade in it woman, it simply smells like it because of what's present, now give him four drops." The man snapped.

Poppy grumbled something and they heard her carry the phone over to where a small whimpering noise was coming from, plus the counting from one to four. A few moments later the whimpering subsided and they heard Teddy. "An Pop?" A sniffle... a different type of whimper... "Whew daddy?"

"Daddy's talking to some men right now Teddy, he'll be home in a little bit." She said, the sounds of more rustling following.

"What, did Hermione tell everyone what was happening?" Harry asked.

"Papa?"

"Papa's with him." She said.

More sniffling. "Sleep scawy..."

"I know baby, I know." A bit more rustling was heard and she spoke into the phone. "He's alright, he's awake." She said.

"Good. Give the phone back to Alden." Severus told her.

"Hello?" Alden asked into the strange device moments later.

"Alden, you did good by calling us. Five points to Slytherin." Severus said to the boy. The female officer present gasped lightly when she heard that.

Alden laughed. "You can't give me points when you're not even on school grounds."

"Then get aunt Minnie to." Harry said with a chuckle.

"I'll tell her you said that." Alden promised.

"And tell Ms. Granger to stop being such a gossip." Severus stated before they ended their call.

Once that was settled, the male officer eyed Severus even more skeptically than he had before. "Why didn't you simply tell her second shelf, green bottle, smells like nightshade?"

Severus, who was already quite irritated with the man, glared at him. "I have you know five out of the seven days of the week I personally make anywhere from 10 to 20 vials per day, not including the nearly one hundred a day I supervise the children making. If you think that after making that many a day for over a decade I can remember off of the top of my head exactly where any specific vial is at any given time, you're an even bigger fool than I initially assumed."

"You're Severus Snape." The female officer said, seeming to get over some sort of shock.

Severus fixed his stare to her. "And how have you come to that conclusion?"

"I went to Hogwarts, you were my professor!" She said. "McGonagall's the headmistress? What happened to Dumbledore?" She asked.

"He died..." Harry said sadly.

"Oh no, when?"

"'97." Harry told her.

"Well that's just sad. I was sure he was going to go on for at least another four decades after I left."

"Yes, he might have." Severus grumbled. He was not particularly fond of remembering how the old coot died, considering it was at his hand.

"What happened? It wasn't natural?" She asked. The male officer watched them all with a bewildered look on his face.

"Tom Riddle." Harry said. She ah'd in understanding. "How long have you been out of the community?"

"Oh about 10 years now." She told them.

_So she had just left right before I came in. _Harry thought to himself.

"If you're entirely finished, I would like to get on with this interrogation." The male officer said sternly.

What Severus and Harry weren't aware of, what Hermione was just figuring out, was that Cygnus Preece had a protection charm around his location that caused anyone trying to find him with the point me spell to go in the opposite direction. She had, of course, found this out with her handy dandy little map and tacs representing the starting and ending locations, seeing how they completely went opposite from one another. Of course, this also allowed her to guess the general area where the rat was hiding. Sometimes she was glad she was muggleborn, or these ideas simply wouldn't have come to her.

What the entire group, extended family and all, wasn't aware of, was the fact that the nightmares did have a significance, though not in the way that an old divination professor might think.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

"-and I swear to Merlin if I never have to step foot in another police station, it will be too soon!" Severus grumbled as they entered Malfoy's manor.

Hermione looked up from the paper she was writing on. "It went well I take it?"

"We were interrogated for hours!" Severus complained. "If they didn't get the damn answer they wanted the first time, why did the expect it to change the fifty other times they asked?"

"A tactic to make sure you aren't lying." She said, returning her attention to the paper. "Look over this, and Charlie and the others are here." She informed them, pushing a few papers and a map over to them.

Harry took the map and studied it, seeing the circles, lines, and holes in it where Hermione had marked the area that she thought Preece to be hiding. "How's Teddy?" He asked.

"Fine last I heard. They got him back to sleep about thirty minutes ago." Hermione mumbled.

"Why were you talking to muggle aurors?" Alden asked, entering the room.

Severus set in to inform the boy of what had went on in as short of terms as possible.

"I'm going to leave out early tomorrow morning to get the hunt done and over with as soon as possible." Harry told Hermione, referring to the weekly Sunday romp with the werewolves. "That way I should be back before anything big happens."

"Alright, I'll keep you off the schedule until noon." She offered.

"Schedule? We have a schedule?"

She finally looked up from the paper she was working on. "Yes Harry, we have a schedule. How else do you think I've been putting together all of this information while we were working with the Weasleys trying to figure this out? In case you've forgotten, I have a school career that I'm taking time off of to be here, not to mention several of the Weasleys are taking off of their jobs. The only reason we haven't pushed for you two to do the same if you're going to help is because we understand how hard it is to find a good DADA sub who won't mess up the curriculum, and a Potions sub that Severus might actually approve of."

"Geeze, I'm sorry, alright? I keep forgetting that." Harry snapped.

"So I've noticed." Hermione snapped right back, then returned her attention to her papers.

"Hey Severus?" Alden asked. "What's wrong with those two?"

"Harry's worried about Teddy and tired from the investigation. Ms. Granger's had a hard time getting everyone on task and doing what they need to do in order to find this Preece guy. They're both a little on edge right now." Snape explained.

"Don't you feel the same as Harry then? 'Cause you are in the same boat."

"Yes, but I've had years of practice at calming myself down and holding my tongue." He replied.

"I heard that." Harry called out.

"I'm sure you did." Severus called back. "Come on, you need to get started on your weekend assignment from charms. You're also going to have to start staying at the school more."

"What? Why?" Alden asked, assured he'd gotten in trouble for something.

"Because it's unfair to the other students that you get to spend so much time off of the school grounds and they don't." The man told him. "It's just like if they all got a feast for supper and all you got was half of a bowl of soup. It's been a very long time since any of the staff have had children visit, much less children that actually went to Hogwarts, so there are no real regulations on it, but I will be talking with Minerva about that at a later date." Alden grumpily went to do his weekend assignment and Severus went back to the main room where Harry and Hermione were still bickering. "Would you two kindly shut up and stop mucking about? Harry, you need to go by the burrow and speak with Bill to see if you can get any more suitable information from him."

**(¯`·. Hp/Ss .·´¯)**

"We've got a general area for the Preece guy, we're just trying to figure out if we should attempt another spell for location, or if we should search him out the muggle way." Harry said with a sigh.

Bill nodded slowly.

"I have a question, and I want you to answer honestly... Were you sent to find Cygnus Preece?"

"No... but I would have been eventually." Bill told him.

"Why?"

"He's planning on-" The young man had a coughing fit, but quickly righted himself. "He's planning on killing someone, and I would have been sent to get him before he could do any damage."

"Who?"

"I can't tell you, it's classified..." Another cough sounded. "But you'll probably wind up finding out anyway, you're their last resort."

"Bill? Who do you work for?" Harry asked in a concerned manner.

"Now now little Harry, if I told you that you'd immediately know who Preece was-" More coughing. He really needed to stop talking so much, it was hurting his throat which wasn't even healed yet from all of the choking he'd endured. "-trying to kill."

"Why won't you tell me?"

"Because if I told you that would put you in danger, and I don't want my family suffering for my mistakes." Bill said solemnly.

That sounded like something the young man had said time and time again. It sounded like something he was downright tired of saying. "This is why you and Fluer broke up, isn't it?" Bill simply nodded. "When I kill Preece, will you tell her what was going on?"

"No... I have to wait for permission from my boss before I can do that, and permission would mean I was no longer working."

Harry sighed. It looked like the only thing he could do now was go and find Preece, and this time he wouldn't let a little lack of knowledge stand in his way.

Harry bid his goodbyes and made his way back to Malfoy Manor. It had basically become their central base of operation. Charlie had left again, presumably back to the burrow, and Severus had taken Alden back to the school, much to the child's displeasure. It wasn't that Alden didn't like the school, he just didn't like being left out of the loop of things that were happening.

Instead of going back to Hermione after he'd been updated, Harry went to the edge of the property line and began roaming the small wooded area. Imagine his surprise when he found a magical creature that he thought only stayed in the Forbidden Forest.

A silver head tilted to the side and the horn brushed up against a leaf. The unicorn foal lifted one of her hooves and stared at Harry intently, having never seen a human who wasn't trying to catch her before. She was poised and ready to run should he seem like he might attack.

"You're just a young one." Harry muttered. He reached out a hand, but the creature backed up sharply, disallowing him to touch it. "Well you're a very pretty unicorn." Harry said, folding his hands in his lap. "What are you doing all of the way out here? You must be lost." He mused.

The unicorn huffed and quickly moved its head downward. The only reason she was staying was he might be able to help...

Harry wondered about the motion and if it were trying to say that it was lost. He knew unicorns to be semi-sentient, but he didn't know how much, and whether or not they could understand humans. "Where is your herd?"

The unicorn walked in a circle and laid down on the ground, resting its head on its front hooves and closing its eyes, then got back up and resumed staring at him.

Okay... it was definitely trying to tell him something. "They're asleep?"

It snorted.

"They're hurt?"

It repeated the circle and resting movement.

Harry furrowed his brow and tried to understand what he was being told, but it didn't seem to be sinking in. "They're dead?"

Another snort.

"I don't speak unicorn." Harry told the creature.

The unicorn stepped back from the human and bit at a tree branch, snapping it off. She set it on the ground nearly 15 feet away from him, then trotted back near to him. A neigh to grab his attention, and she took off running toward the branch. Once she reached it, she bent her front legs to rest on them as if kneeling, walked around to the other side of the branch, looked up to the sky and around her, then did the circle thing again.

Harry blinked in confusion. "They were running..." A sharp head movement that Harry had taken to mean yes. "-then they fell..."Another 'yes'. "-then they walked around in circles and-" She snorted and shook her head, her mane going everywhere. Really, wasn't this human listening? Harry really wished he had Firenze here to be the go-between, after all, he was half horse, shouldn't he be able to tell what it meant? "I don't know what you're trying to tell me."

The unicorn was exasperated! Not that Harry realized it. She bit on to his robe's sleeve and started dragging him with her. Harry was a bit surprised, as normally unicorns weren't so aggressive, not to mention they normally wouldn't touch a human unless they were children or the unicorn had been raised in captivity. He followed along, not that he had much choice. It was either go with her, or leave his robe hanging from her mouth.

A few minutes later, they came to a rather large hole in the ground. She let him go, and laid down at the hole with her head peering in. Harry couldn't see a thing as it was beyond dark. He cast a quick lumos and sent it into the hole.

Eight unicorns all lifted their head from the hole at the bright light. Harry gasped. "They're trapped." The foal did the 'yes' movement with its head again and neighed something, to which two of the trapped unicorns neighed back. "How am I going to get them out?" Harry wondered aloud. He cast a patronus and sent a message back to the others. "I'm in the woods out behind the manor, there's a giant hole and eight trapped unicorns. Come help me get them out, follow the stag." He stated, sending it on its way.

The foal looked at him curiously.

"That will get help." He explained. Oh great, he was talking to a unicorn like it was a human. He shook his head and sat down on the ground. Minutes later, several neighs of panic sounded, as did hissing. He sent another lumos and saw several snakes slithering around two of the unicorns' hooves. _**What are you doing?**_ He demanded of the snakes.

_**Thessse creaturesss invaded out nessst! **_One of the snakes hissed back.

_**We are protecting out younglingsss! **_Another said.

_**These creatures are trapped and do not mean to be here. Your younglings are safe. **_Harry tried to tell them.

Four of the snakes stopped but kept staring at the unicorns, while one slithered up to Harry. _**You are a ssspeaker... we have not ssseen one of you for over two yearsss. Why are thessse creaturesss here?**_

_**I do not know. They want to leave, they do not wish to be there. **_Harry told them. **_This young one came for help. _**He said, motioning towards the foal that was now hiding behind him.

The snake eyed the small unicorn and lifted 1/3 of its body from the ground. Just as it was about to say something, Hermione's voice shouted. "Harry move out of the way! Incendio!"

"Aguamenti! Hermione, why in the hell did you do that?" Harry demanded, stepping in front of the snake.

"It's an adder! It's poisonous!" She protested, running up to him and trying to point her wand at the creature.

"I'm a parselmouth!" Harry reminded her. "He wasn't going to bite me, we were talking."

Hermione backed off for a second then shook her head. "I forgot you could talk to them."

"Yes well, try to remember it, okay?" He said semi-teasingly. It was nice to see she was worried about him.

_**What isss the meaning of thisss? **_The snake demanded angrily.

_**It was a mistake. We will get the unicorns from your nest now so you may live in peace. **_Harry told it. "Now what do we do to get the unicorns out?" He asked Hermione.

"Well we could try Mobilicorpus, but I don't think it will work on magical creatures, I'm fairly certain that's a spell that only affects humans. If all else fails, a good old Wingardium Leviosa should do the trick, but it'll take more energy." She said with a nod.

"You try the first, I'll try the second. Ready? Wingardium Leviosa!"

"Mobilicorpus!"

"Hey they both worked!"

"Concentrate!" Hermione chided.

Three more sets of Mobilicorpus later and all eight of the unicorns were out of the pit. The snakes slithered back down without so much as a 'thank you', and the unicorns looked absolutely frazzled... or, as frazzled as a horse with a horn might look.

Hermione smiled to herself. Harry might be hella strong, able to hear anyone sneaking up on him, and really good at fighting, but he was still clueless when it came to using the spells he'd learned to help out in odd situations like this. _Perhaps he should spend a year with the medi-wizards to counterbalance that. _She thought with a grin.

By the time they made it back to the Manor, Hermione had realized she forgot to inform Harry of her findings. "Oh Harry!" She said as they entered into the main sitting room. "I've narrowed it down to three locations where Preece might be. We're going to go search it out tomorrow after you come back from your hunt."

"Good. Now maybe we'll be able to catch this guy and see what the hell his problem is." Harry said. He was kind of uneasy, he hadn't told anyone about what Bill had said earlier about his 'boss'. He wasn't sure what to make of the whole situation, or if it was even legal.

**(¯`·. Hp/Ss .·´¯)**

Sunday rolled over, and Harry hunted, successfully getting the lust to kill from his system... for the time being anyway. The group split into teams to search the three locations, none of them even remotely successful. It was determined that Preece had fled London, and the various people looking for him needed to get back to their jobs and schools. Hunting down the man would have to wait, as life was intruding.

Bill was less than pleased with this news, but he accepted the situation, albeit grudgingly. Charlie and Draco started making preparations for their own wedding, which they had held off on until Harry got back at Charlie's insistence. They finally settled on a date; January 6th, nearly 2 months away.

The nightmares did not get worse, nor did they get better. They stayed at the same rate of nearly every night, alternating between Harry, Severus, Alden, and Teddy. Firenze continued to watch Harry intently, which was beginning to bug the young man. It wasn't that he didn't like the centaur, he just wasn't very appreciative of being watched like a child.

After dinner the following Thursday, Harry had finally had enough of it. He went to the divination classroom and sought out Firenze. "Why do you keep watching me?"

"To assess your subconscious." The centaur said to him.

"Why do you keep inquiring about my subconscious?" Harry demanded.

"My brother fears for it." Firenze answered.

"Yes, so you've said. Why does he fear for it?"

"That is an answer I do not have." He stated with a slight bow of his head.

Harry growled. "Where in the Ministry is he? I'm going to go have a talk with him to see if I can't figure out what all of this is you guys keep being so vague about."

Firenze smiled, something which he did nearly as rarely as Snape used to. "Third floor, second corridor on the right, three doors down, and to the left."

Harry blinked, very nearly stunned. He hadn't expected such a straight answer. "Thank you." He said suspiciously. Were they trying to make him visit the other centaur? Speaking of which... "What is your brother's name?"

"Badbane." Firenze replied.

"Right... thanks."

Harry made his way to the Ministry, leaving a note for Severus. _Let's see, second floor, third corridor... or was it the other way around? Yeah, I'm pretty sure it was third floor second corridor. Which corridor? _He wondered, looking at the two on the right and on the left. He tried the second corridor on the left, which led him to a store room, so he went on to try the one on the right. Okay more doors... Third! Firenze said the third door on the... left?

Harry went through the door and sighed in relief. "Are you Badbane?"

The centaur looked up from the desk he was standing at. "Yes. Welcome savior."

Harry shifted his eyes. "Please, just call me Harry."

"Very well." The centaur nodded. "Why have you come, Harry?"

"Because your brother won't stop telling me you fear for my subconscious." The young man said. "I came by because I want to know why, and why he's being so vague about everything."

Badbane smirked. "Our species tends to be vague about many things. It helps keep down inaccurate predictions."

Harry raised an eyebrow. This certainly wasn't behavior he had expected from a centaur. "Right... but what about the whole f-"

"Fearing for your subconscious is how he put it?" Badbane shook his head. "It's not your _sub_conscious I fear for, it's your entire consciousness."

"But why?"

"Because you are tearing yourself in two." The centaur told him, walking from his side of the desk, closer to Harry. "You have an extraordinary amount of power, and you are ripping your mind and soul apart trying to separate one part of you from the rest of you. Also be warned, I will not stop sending the dreams until you learn to to accept who you are."

"The dreams... wait.. YOU'RE the one who's been giving us all nightmares?"

"Yes." Badbane replied. "One of the gifts of our race."

"Stop it! My family doesn't need to be affected by that, if you're determined to punish someone for not accepting a foreign part of themselves, then punish the person specifically, don't punish their family! They don't need to be affected!" Harry protested vehemently. He would be damned if he would allow some centaur with a god complex to fuck with his family.

"There is no punishment. What you choose not to see is how your inability to accept something that is just as much a part of you as your hair and eyes affects them." The centaur stepped closer, causing Harry to back up. "You pretend that the power you gained, which is 100% yours and under no other living or dead being's control, is only hurting you when you lose that control, when in reality it is hurting everyone around you, but mostly your immediate family." Badbane walked him up against a wall. "The effects of which can be seen most in your mate who draws you out of it. Do you not remember how you learned that others could draw you out? Do you not remember how your eldest son was affected before that memory was wiped from his mind?" The centaurs voice was raising slightly. "Unless you learn to control this power, one day your youngest will be curious and he too will find out exactly what happens when daddy loses control and papa isn't there to pull daddy out of it because daddy took off his bracelet. I sent those dreams so you would realize that your choice to not learn to properly control the power gifted to you is having a negative effect on your family because you refused to see it any other way!"

Harry had angry tears in his eyes. "How dare you! That was an accident and the only reason my bracelet was off was because I was taking a shower at the time! How do you even know that?"

"Because I am a centaur and we are gifted with the sight. I _saw _it when it happened savior. Perhaps you should relive that memory." Badbane placed his hand on Harry's forehead and the young man's eyes rolled back in his head.

_Harry was just finishing up a shower about a week before he had left for the Liridon clan. His bracelet was lying on the sink while he put on his clothes. "DON'T TOUCH ME!" Alden's voice rang through._

_Harry bolted from the bathroom to find the boy being pulled out of the Potter/Snape private chambers by another student, a Gryffindor 4th year named Evan Moriattus. What the boy had been doing following Alden in the staff's wing of the school was anybody's guess. "Let go of him!" Harry demanded._

"_Buzz off Professor Potter! This is between him and me!" Evan shouted. _

"_Let me GO you bastard!" Alden screamed. "Incendio!"_

"_Aguamenti! __Redactum Skullus!" Evan countered._

"_Engorgio Skullus!" Harry shouted. "Petrificus Totalus!" He bound both boys to the floor. "Why are you attacking each other?" He demanded._

"_That little bastard started it!" Evan spoke up. _

"_I did not! You're the one who said that Professor Snape was a Death Eater who just got lucky." Alden protested._

"_Yeah, and you punched me for it! I'm allowed to have my own opinions!" Moriattus argued back._

"_Opinions sure, but calling him a Death Eater is like me calling you a mudblood because you're muggle born!" Alden yelled._

_Evan growled, completely missing the boy's point. "How dare you call me that! When I get my hands on you, you're dead!"_

_Harry narrowed his eyes. "Stop it! Moriattus, he didn't call you that, he used the word as an example. Parker, we've been over this before, you are supposed to ignore things like that."_

_Harry's attempt at reconciling the boys didn't go over well, and when his attention was drawn to Teddy crying in the other room, Evan broke his bonds and ran over to Alden, throwing him to the floor and choking him. Alden was kicking and fighting back with all of his might, and the ruckus drew Harry's attention again._

_What Harry didn't take into consideration was that Alden was partially to blame for the situation, as he had been making snide remarks before Evan broke his bonds, and Harry only saw the boy attacking his son who was flailing about. _

_Harry lost it. His eyes went red and he threw the child off of Alden with one hell of a wordless and wandless wingardium leviosa. Alden knew that Harry might wind up actually doing more harm than good, and looked around hoping that Severus might pop in. While he and Evan didn't exactly get along very well, that is to say not at all, he didn't want the boy hospitalized because of a fight that didn't even put his own life in danger. _

_When Harry threw the child to the ground and Severus still showed no sign of appearing, Alden looked to Harry's wrist and noticed he wasn't wearing the bracelet. "Shit..." The boy muttered. "Harry stop it! You'll get in trouble with Minerva!" He tried. Harry didn't seem to hear him. Alden went up to the young man and tugged on his sleeve, an action that got him a one-way trip to the other wall. "Harry!" He screamed, scrambling to get up. His foot was twisted and it hurt, but he couldn't let Harry do real damage to the other kid. _

_He ran up to Harry and pushed him down to the floor, to which Harry responded by casting a cutting hex at him. When Harry heard Alden crying, he looked down to the boy and his eyes widened. He had cut his son. Alden was bleeding on the floor because of him. "Oh god oh god oh god oh god!" Harry chanted, tears forming in his eyes while the red lines seemed to bleed out. Evan was unconscious on the ground. "What did I do? Oh god oh god, Alden, are you alright?"_

_Alden looked up at the man and gulped. "Is th-this what S-Severus feels every t-time?" He asked through broken sobs._

_Harry was very nearly hyperventilating and trying to figure out what to do. "Obliviate!" Came Severus' voice from behind Harry. The spell shot past the young man and straight to Alden. Harry looked up with a tear-stained face. Severus glanced down with a look somewhere between furious and frightened._

Badbane released his grip on the young man who was sobbing on the floor. "Your training has helped in controlling your power immensely, but it has not given you complete control." The centaur said in a voice softer than it was before. "Just because your son can not remember, does not mean that it didn't happen. If you refuse to accept that this gift is as much a part of you as your own soul and learn to control it properly, then that scenario will happen again with any number of people."

Harry didn't respond, only laid on the floor with his body shaking and eyes leaking like faucets turned all the way on. After nearly 20 minutes of this, Harry finally had a reply. "It's not a gift." He said taking a hitched breath. "It's a curse."

"It is the gift of pure power, nothing else on this planet can even come close to such a thing." Badbane corrected. "As long as you treat it like an enemy, you will continue to rip yourself and those around you apart."

"It's NOT A GIFT!" Harry yelled.

Badbane shook his head and went back to his desk. He opened one of the drawers and pulled out a necklace which he took over to Harry who was just sitting up. "Take this, wear it, and visit your dragon friend. Perhaps she may explain what I have been unable to."

Harry sniffled and hiccuped. "I can't understand dragons, they're not serpents."

"With that you can. Think of it as a translator, you can understand what any being; human, creature, magical creature, or otherwise is saying while you wear it. It does not work on plants though, only things with vocal cords." The centaur explained. "By the way, Mr. Preece is in New Zealand."

**(¯`·. Hp/Ss .·´¯)**

Harry went back to the manor looking like something the cat dragged in. "Harry? What happened to you?" Severus asked.

"I paid a visit to Badbane, Firenze's brother. Preece is in New Zealand and I need to visit Norberta."

"Wasn't she sent to Romania?" Severus asked, looking over the young man.

"Yeah, but she flew back to Hogwarts to be with Hagrid." Harry replied.

"How did Badbane know where Preece was?"

"'The Sight', so he said."

"And why do you look like hell?"

"The bastard made me relive what I did to Alden that day when I wasn't wearing the bracelet..."

Severus' eyebrows found their way into an oblique position and he pulled Harry down on to the couch with him, wrapping his arms around him. "That was an accident."

"I still did it..."

"You were gone over the edge, it wasn't _you_."

"Yes it was..."

"No it-"

"Yes it was!" Harry protested, looking up at the man. "The power is mine, all mine. The Dark Lord isn't controlling it from beyond the grave, it's not inherently evil, it's power in its purest form and I am the one in control of it!"

"But you weren't in control of it at the time."

"That's my point!" Harry said, exasperated. "It's in my control, whether I can actually control it or not, therefore it was me! That's my... that's... my..." He felt like hitting his head up against something. "That was Badbane's point."

"What was?" Severus asked, completely missing that Harry had referred to Voldemort as 'the Dark Lord' yet again.

"If it was me who did that, then the power is very much a part of me whether I like it or not..." Harry muttered. He fingered at the necklace he was wearing. "That was his point."

"Where did you get that?" Severus asked, noting the neckwear.

"Badbane..." Harry replied. Perhaps now he didn't need to visit Norberta.

"Daddy..." Teddy said, wobbling into the room.

"What is it?" Harry asked, picking the boy up when he got to the couch.

"It huwts." Teddy replied, rubbing his mouth.

"Open wide and let daddy see." Harry instructed. The boy opened his mouth and Harry cast a small lumos. What he saw surprised him.

**(¯`·. Hp/Ss .·´¯)**

_**A/N: **_With Norberta, I'm following both the books and the movies. It's a she, as described in the books, but she's also friendly instead of violent, as described in the movies. Hope this helps avoid confusion. Also, thank you Alysisaacs17 for the necklace idea, and the Badbane idea. I swear, I might as well put you as a co-author. *giggles*


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

"Severus, look at this." Harry said, shifting so Teddy was facing him. "Open your mouth again." He told the toddler.

Teddy complied and opened his mouth again while Severus peered in with Harry's lumos lighting it up. At first he didn't see what Harry was talking about, but when he did, he blinked his eyes to make sure he wasn't just seeing things. He closed the boy's mouth. "He has four fangs..."

"So I'm not going crazy." Harry said, almost in a way that sought approval.

"Two on the top... two on the bottom. Like a canine."

"They're still little though, just coming in." Harry mused, pulling back Teddy's lip gently, much to the toddler's displeasure.

"No daddy!" Teddy wailed.

"Daddy's sorry, he was just looking at your teeth." Harry replied.

"Owie." Teddy said, his face all scrunched.

"Well, at least you get to experience some of the teething agony I had to deal with while you were gone." Severus thought aloud.

"Ah yes, the joys of parenting in a bi-parent household. You get to say 'tonight it's your turn'." Harry said with a small chuckle. He had pushed the feelings he was having over the episode with Badbane to the back of his mind so he could focus on Teddy.

It was then that Severus had an idea. "Teddy, you know how you can make your hand have more fingers?"

Teddy tilted his head, confused. "Wha?"

"Like this." Severus said, holding up his left hand with all five fingers splayed out, then holding his right hand as if he were pointing and sliding that up behind his left hand.

Teddy held up his hand and sprouted another finger. "Finga?"

"Yes. Can you do that with your teeth?" He asked, pointing to his own teeth.

"Finga not go mouf." Teddy told him.

"He is still a toddler Sev, he's not going to understand everything we're trying to say." Harry reminded him.

"I realize that." Severus said. "I'm just so used to him being more advanced..."

The fire roared to life and Minerva's head poked into the flames. "Severus, Minister Shacklebolt is here to see you." She said with a grin. It wasn't often the Minister of Magic came by to see someone at Hogwarts.

Snape raised an eyebrow... that was unlike the Minister to make house-calls. "Send him over to Malfoy's manor." He said.

As Minerva nodded and went to do as instructed, Harry looked at his husband aghast. "You can't just say to the Minister of Magic 'come here if you want to see me', it's rude!"

"Weren't you the one who said that sometimes it's better to treat famous people like ordinary people?" Severus asked by way of reply.

Kingsley stepped through the floo and into Malfoy's Manor. He dusted off his robe and looked around. "Might I ask why you are here?"

"We're trying to look for the man who hurt Bill." Harry told him.

"Ahh, Mr. Weasley, I'd heard from Arthur Weasley that he was hurt. Is he feeling better?" Kingsley asked, taking a seat in a chair.

"A bit yes, but not entirely. Whoever hurt him really hurt him bad." Harry admitted.

"Yes, I see." Kingsley stated, not overly concerned. "Bill is a strong person, he'll make it out of this just fine. I've come to speak with you Severus."

"Alright, what about?" Snape asked.

"Alone, if we could?" Kingsley asked with a nod towards Harry and Hermione.

Hermione took her cue to leave the roomm picking up Teddy along the way, and Harry was just about to do the same when Severus pulled him back down. "Anything you have to say to me, you can say it in front of my husband." He stated. There was something off about Kingsley, had been ever since they'd passed that bill for marriage within other species. He couldn't quite place it.

"Severus, it's alright." Harry protested.

"No no, he's quite right." Kingsley said, brushing the incident aside. "It has come to my attention that you have halted work on making the wolfsbane potion only be needed once in a werewolf's life."

"Yes, I simply haven't the time to work on it, what with being a full time professor, full time parent, and part time Potions Master." Severus replied.

"Well, as a Potions Master, consider it my order. I would like one vial of wolfsbane that only needs to be taken once per werewolf's life to be completed by two years time." Kingsley said with a smile.

Instead of stating the obvious that Potions Masters only took orders they knew they could fulfill, Severus chose another route. "Why are you so interested in this potion?"

"To help our fellow witches and wizards with this most troubling disease of course." Kingsley told him.

"It's isn't a disease." Harry interrupted. "I mean, sure most of wizarding society views it as that, but it's not. It's just like Hagrid and Flitwick, it's who they are that they can't change. It's not something that can be 'cured' like an illness, it's a state of being."

Kingsley shook his head in a way that suggested that Harry was simply naïve. "Call it what you will, it is a gene that is passed on through the transmission of bodily fluids. People who have never had it can attain it, people who weren't born with it, thus it is a disease."

Just as Harry was about to argue something back, Teddy tugged at Severus' robe sleeve having apparently came back into the room. "Papa... huwts." He said, then pointed to his mouth.

"I know child." Severus replied, pulling out his wand. "Open up." He said, and when the boy did so, he cast a small cooling charm on Teddy's teeth and gums to numb the pain. At such a position, Kingsley couldn't see the boy's mouth.

Teddy settled back in between Severus and Harry and looked to the visitor. He didn't remember this man, having only seen him for five minutes of his tiny life, so he just stared at him. "Hi." He said.

"Young Lupin is growing well I see." Kingsley said. "Hi there."

"Hi." Teddy repeated. The boy wasn't too good in social situations just yet.

"As I was saying, I wish to help our fellow witches and wizards." Kingsley stated, returning to the subject at hand.

"If you want to help them, perhaps you could set aside some land for the werewolves under the wolfsbane potion to roam during their transformations. That way, they wouldn't be a danger to society, and they would have somewhere to run off all of that energy." Harry suggested.

"Yes... a plot of land just for them... that's rather brilliant Mr. Potter." Shacklebolt said with a gleam in his eye.

Something wasn't right about this. Severus wasn't sure what, but there was just something _off_. "I am still unable to do much pertaining to the wolfsbane potion without the time." He reminded them.

"Yes well, you seem to have made time to hunt down this Preece fellow." Kingsley said with a shrug.

Severus' eyes narrowed. They hadn't used the man's name at all, how did Shacklebolt know about Preece? "I think it's time you leave." He said sternly.

"Excuse me?" Kingsley asked, clearly affronted.

"We were just getting ready to follow another lead on Mr. Preece, however you stepped in right before we were going to leave." Severus lied. Harry was about to say something, but Snape squeezed his hand a bit to stop him. "If we don't find him soon, he may flee again, and we may never get another chance. I apologize for the inconvenience."

"Ahh I see." Kingsley said with a nod. "Do please try to find time to work on the Wolfsbane potion, I shan't stop sending volunteers for you to work out the tweaks with you know." He called cheerfully before exiting via the floo.

"Wolf?" Teddy asked. "Like faber?"

"Yes, just like father." Harry answered.

"Mama wolf?" The boy inquired.

"No, mama was a metamorphmagus."

"Mowphy." Teddy said with a nod. "Papa an' daddy is mowphy?"

"No, only mama." Severus replied.

"I can be mowphy." Teddy said, holding out his hand and adding a few fingers. He really liked that trick.

Harry smiled. "Yes you can, just like mama."

"Man is mowphy too?" Teddy asked.

"I don't really know what that man is." Severus admitted.

"Senity not a mowphy, or Aldy." Teddy said sadly. "Why?"

How does one explain to a 3 year old why some people are metamorphmagi and some aren't? That's like trying to explain why some people have brown hair, and others have blond... Harry decided on the simplest method he knew. "Because you and mama are special."

"Oh dear Merlin." Severus said to himself. That was one of the parenting methods that Harry employed that he disdained, telling a child they were special for reasons they were not. Metamorphmagi might not have been entirely too common, but they weren't special. That would be like saying Flitwick or Hagrid were special because of their size. It simply was a part of who they were, not something that made them anything more or less than other people. Allowing a child to grow up thinking they're special simply because their body is a bit different would only lead to disaster down the road.

Do not misunderstand this, Severus did in fact think Teddy to be special, just not because of that. He thought his son was special because Teddy could grasp concepts that children who were a bit older than he still had trouble understanding.

"It huwts." Teddy said, his little face scrunching up again while his hand found its way to his mouth.

**(¯`·. Hp/Ss .·´¯)**

"What do you want Mr. Duvall?" Harry asked just as the student in question was about to knock on his office door. It was really quite annoying that he had to put off going to New Zealand to track down Preece because of the school week, but thank goodness it was Friday. He just hoped that Shacklebolt didn't catch his husband in his lie about leaving last week. Every time Harry had asked Severus why he lied to their friend, Severus simply replied that he wasn't sure.

The boy opened the door with a scowl on his face. "Your pet snakes are at it again."

"Excuse me?" Harry asked at the boy's tone.

"A few of the 6th and 7th year Slytherins have banded together and cornered Leah Stofer and Alden Parker. As usual Professor Snape is nowhere to be found, and since you're Parker's adoptive father the other prefects and I decided to come to you instead of the headmistress." The Gryffindor seventh year prefect stated.

"Take me to them. Professor Snape is and will be working on a potion for the next few weeks when not out of the castle or overseeing detention." Harry informed the boy.

"The same one he's been working on all week?" Adrian asked, leading the way.

"Yes."

"Hmph. Seems to me he cares more about that potion than his own house."

"It's nothing like that, the potion has been ordered by the Minister." Harry told him.

As they came to the scene of the commotion, the quidditch pitch, they heard Alden yelling. "-and if you TOUCH her I'll do the same to all of you!"

Harry furrowed his brows and quickened his pace, heading up to the group and Slytherins fighting amongst themselves. "What's going on here?" He demanded.

"Those prats started it when they threatened Stofer." Carlota Myas spoke up, pointing to the irritated looking Slytherins.

Calvin Flint was holding one of the other Slytherins, Ellie Hefson, back. Hefson was trying desperately to get loose with her eyes set on Alden. Harry shot a low-powered Petrificus to her and she fell to the ground. "You started it when you cut him!" She shouted.

Harry's gaze immediately traveled to Alden. "Is what she's saying true? You cut someone?"

"He was pointing his wand at her about to hurt her!" Alden protested, stepping defensively in front of Leah who was cowering.

"He who? Who's been cut?" Harry demanded.

Ritchie Pye, a 7th year Slytherin, stepped forward holding his arm and scowling. Harry cast a small charm on the wounds to keep them from bleeding. "I should have known." Harry grumbled to himself. "Pye, Parker, Hefson, and Myas, you've all got detention with Filch tonight and tomorrow evening from 6 pm to 8 pm. Myas, take Pye to the infirmary. Parker," He gave a look to his son that was undefinable to the boy. "-we're going to speak about this when you come back from detention tonight. And 20 points from Slytherin."

Harry watched as the group dissipate and pulled Stofer to the side. "Leah, why did that boy threaten you?"

"Because I said all of the Death Eaters got what they deserved, every last one of them." She said with conviction, then her face fell. "But Pye said that his dad was a Death Eater by force, that he'd never wanted to be one and he still died in the battle... then he pointed his wand at me and told me to take it back 'or else'. That's when Alden jumped in. It's not his fault, he didn't hear the first part, it was kind of my fault." She told the man.

"Why are you admitting to fault?" Harry asked curiously. Really, it was getting strange around here with all the adult things the children were doing, and the childish things the adults were doing.

"Because I don't want you to be mad at me." She said, her cheeks tinging red a bit. "And you'd be angrier if I lied than if I admitted what I said was thoughtless."

Harry's eyes widened at the look the girl was giving him. He quickly sent her on her way, deducting five points from Gryffindor for some reason which he quickly forgot, and hurried into Severus' personal potions lab in the dungeons, locking the door behind him. "Sev, help!"

Snape glance over his shoulder and rose an eyebrow. "What?"

"A student has a crush on me, what do I do? Do I report this to Minerva, do I pretend I don't know, do I-" He stopped talking when he heard Severus laughing.

Severus was clutching the edge of the table, his body shaking from the laughter he was desperately trying to keep quiet.

"Is it so hard to believe?" Harry demanded.

"No, it's-" The man laughed again and turned around, brushing aside the potion. "It's-" He couldn't help himself, the look on Harry's face mixed with his question was too much. He laughed even more. "You ignore it." He said finally, holding his hand to his forehead, shaking his head, and chuckling. "You ignore it and remind yourself that there's only X amount of years that they will be here... Unless of course they grow up and come teach here alongside you. Then you set clear boundaries."

**(¯`·. Hp/Ss .·´¯)**

"I'm so hungry..." A voice said.

Harry jumped back a bit, startling both himself and Severus. He hadn't heard anyone come in, and that wasn't anyone's voice he knew... "Who said that!" He demanded, whipping out his wand. It wasn't that he needed his wand, he just used it as a prop to ensure that whoever it was knew he meant business.

Severus grew from startled to concerned.

"You can hear me?" The voice asked.

"Obviously, now stop playing games and come out." Harry said. He didn't hear a damn thing besides a seemingly disembodied voice and maybe the scurry of tiny feet from mice beneath the castle floors.

"Will you feed me?" The voice asked, seeming to weigh its options.

"Do you mean any harm?" Harry asked in return.

Severus watched his husband, worried for the man's sanity. All he saw was Harry waving his wand about and squeaking. Perhaps Harry needed a break.

"No. I just want food." The voice replied.

"Then I might feed you if you show yourself." Harry said.

A tiny little head popped out from behind the bookcase. The only reason Harry saw it was he was staring in the direction the voice was coming from. "Food?" The voice asked while the mouse stared at him intently.

"Show yourself!" Harry demanded. He didn't like being in situations where he couldn't hear a person's movements or breath or... or... well, where he wasn't in control.

The mouse came out a few more mousy steps. "I am." The voice said in an irritated manner.

"Severus, someone's messing with my mind." Harry said.

That, Snape clearly heard. "Really... I had assumed they were messing with mine."

"Why do you say that?" Harry asked, giving a glance over his shoulder.

"Because you're squeaking and waving your wand around like a maniac." Severus replied.

"Sq... wait..." Harry's hand went to his necklace and he stared at the mouse. "Are you the one who's hungry?" He asked.

"Yes!" The mouse said, glad the gigantic whatever it was that he shared this home with understood.

"And he's back to squeaking." Severus mused, watching as Harry bent down to pick up a... "Why are you holding a rat?"

"Hmm? Oh, he's hungry." Harry said.

"Could you please not squeak when you answer me..." Severus said with a mild irritation.

Harry furrowed his brows. It looked like he would have to get used to speaking in mouse like he had parseltongue. "Sorry." He said. Ah, English this time, judging by the look on Severus' face. "I said he was hungry."

"And since when can you talk to anything other than snakes?" Severus asked, following Harry out of their quarters and into the hall.

"Since Badbane gave me this necklace. It lets whoever's wearing it understand any animals... he gave it to me with the task of visiting Norberta." Harry explained.

Severus immediately thought to Serenity. "I could finally speak to my snake."

"Yes you could." Harry said, secretly glad that the man wasn't angry with him for not telling him about it earlier. Really, it had simply slipped his mind.

"The possibilities... One could ask a phoenix to cry for them, a merperson for some of their hair or scales, even a unicorn if it would freely give a small portion of its blood." His eyes glittered with the possibilities and how his potions could benefit. Then he thought of something. "Is it tied to only you?"

"What do you mean?" Harry asked.

"I mean, can only you wear it, or can others?"

"I dunno. I presume others can. Wanna test it out?" Harry asked, holding up the mouse as they reached the kitchens.

Severus gave a look of distaste. "Perhaps with Serenity when we return to our rooms." He suggested.

The mouse was fed and Harry and Severus returned to their chambers, Harry immediately letting the mouse go back wherever it came from then taking off the necklace and handing it to Severus while he went to go and find Serenity.

Harry came back moments later with the snake on his arms. "Okay, you might have a hard time noticing when I switch from english to-" _**-parseltongue, but you should be able to hear it. **_Harry told the man.

_**Who ssshall hear what? **_Serenity asked.

Severus' eyes widened. _**I've no trouble telling them apart. **_He frowned. **_Telling them apart. _** "Why can't I say 'distinguishing them'?"

Harry grinned. "They don't have a word for 'distinguishing'."

"I see." Severus said. He eyed Serenity, who was staring at him, moving her head back and forth as if trying to get a good look at him. _**What?**_

_**You ssspoke! **_Serenity exclaimed. **_You ssspoke the right way. _**She slithered off of Harry and up to the other man, in essence climbing him. _**I want anssswersss. **_She hissed in his ear.

_**About what? **_Severus asked, half wondering why she didn't simply ask Harry and have the man ask him earlier.

Harry watched the two converse, and while he was happy that Severus had finally gotten something he'd wanted for such a long time, he was insanely irritated at the fact that Severus seemed to have no trouble distinguishing the different languages when in use and that it took Harry well over a month to learn how to do such a thing. One might even say he was a bit jealous.

Of course, as things had a habit of happening in ways that weren't wanted, Alden walked in and was immediately curious. Harry was supposed to be the only one who could talk to snakes, Severus had said many times that he wished he had the ability but thought that a silly notion. Now here was the man carrying on a conversation in parseltongue, or at least it seemed to be, and acting as if he'd done it every day. "Are you two polyjuiced to look like one another?" He asked.

Severus raised an eyebrow and Harry snickered. "No." Harry answered. "It's that necklace, a gift from Badbane which lets us communicate with animals." His amused tone quickly went away though. "You are just in time for that talk."

Severus' ears perked at this. "Talk? What's happened?" He was then filled in on what had transpired earlier with the Slytherins.

**(¯`·. Hp/Ss .·´¯)**

Ah the weekend, finally time to go and look for this Preece bastard. Harry was going to New Zealand alone though, as Severus was staying at the castle to watch Teddy and oversee both his and Harry's detentions.

Harry used the floo to one of the Leaky Cauldron's sister pubs, one located in the wizarding community of Wellington. He dusted himself off after stepping from the green fire and glanced around, realizing that he had no frikkin clue where anything was, much less Preece.

It was then that a woman came up to him. "You're Mr. Potter, yes?"

"Uh, yes." He answered.

She smiled. "Good." Her blond short hair seemed to be fixed into place. "I'm supposed to show you to the muggle hotel you'll be staying at." She told him.

"Uh... how did you even know I was coming? And what hotel?" Harry asked.

"Badbane." She informed him. Of course it was him who sent her... "Mind you he wants you to know that you should interrogate before making any hasty actions."

Harry rose an eyebrow. Interrogate his ass, Preece very nearly killed Bill. He'd pummel him, then interrogate him. "Sure." He said.

The woman gave a sly smile. "You really are new at this aren't you?" She asked.

"New at what?" Harry asked, slightly confused.

She lifted her necklace some. "Using these. We've been talking in araneaetongue this whole time."

Harry blinked. Damn, he hadn't even noticed! Really, he should be better at this considering his parseltongue abilities... wait... "What's 'araneaetongue'?" He asked.

"The language of the spiders. Nobody can hear us because it's so soft, not even a werewolf, only other spiders." She replied with a mischievous grin.

"Araneaetongue, huh... Sounds a bit like 'orangutang' to me."

She snorted and laughed. "That's just what I said to Master the first time I heard him use the phrase."

"Master?"

"Badbane."

"I should have known." Harry said shaking his head. "So, why do you call him that?"

"Two reasons. First, respect. He's taught me so much over the years that I see him as a Master of many things. Second, because he controls my life. When someone else is in control of another's life, they become that person's Master, logically anyway." She said, looking as if that last bit didn't phase her in the least.

"Why does he-"

"I was in Azkaban scheduled to receive the kiss and he saved me from it on the condition that I become his test subject." She answered. "It's not a bad life really, he gets to test out things, like these necklaces we're using to communicate, and I don't have to die or get my soul sucked out. Of course, there are many more dangerous things I have to test as well, but that's fine."

Harry furrowed his brow. She was a criminal? "What did you do to be sent to Azkaban?" He asked curiously.

She gave that mischievous grin again. "I buried the Italian Minister of Magic up to his neck in dirt then used him for target practice for the unforgivables."

Harry stopped walking behind the woman. She was a loon. "Why would you do that?" He demanded.

"Because he was corrupt and trying to change things in ways they shouldn't be changed." She justified. "Don't worry though, I'm not allowed to do any magic anymore. You're safe."

He hesitantly picked back up the pace and began walking behind her again. "What were you doing in Italy?"

"I'm Italian." She answered as if it should have been obvious. He stared at her as if she were crazy. "These translators don't distinguish between human languages, only animal ones, therefore if we both speak the same animal language, such as araneaetongue, we can understand one another. I do speak English though." Harry was becoming more and more impressed with these necklaces as the days passed. "By the way, something I'm sure you haven't figured out yet, if you twist the little charm inside of the circle like you would a time turner, you'll be able to hear all of the animal languages around you instead of just the ones speaking directly to you."

Harry frowned and lifted his necklace, twisting the blue charm a bit. Suddenly his ears were assaulted with many things being said at once. "-away from my nest!" "-come back my prey." "Food? No... Food? No!" "-which way is home?" "-youngling!" He quickly twisted the charm back to its original position and sighed. He wouldn't be doing that again any time soon...

"Alright... We're here. Your room is all set up, the only thing you need to do is check in and find whoever you're looking for within 3 days because that's all the room's booked for." She informed him, then handed him a bit of paper with a phone number on it. "We're in the muggle area so you'll have to use the phone to contact me."

"Wait, uh, do you think I could get you to do a point me spell with me to find this guy?"

The woman cocked her head to the side. "Weren't you listening earlier? I'm not allowed to _do_ magic anymore, at all, ever, for any reason whatsoever."

"Oh, right... I guess I didn't think about that..."

"I'll say. Look, if you desperately need someone to work with you, I know a guy down by Magi's Run who'd do it as long as you did something in return."

Harry sighed. "How much money would he ask for?"

"Oh he doesn't trade money, he wants actions in return. I don't know what he'd ask from you, but seeing as it's _you _I think it'd be something that would be well worth his time and effort, but not nearly worth yours." She said, handing him a small pamphlet. "I'll take you to Magi's Run tomorrow, tonight you need to focus on getting settled in and learning the laws here. They are different you know, even in the wizarding portion, you can't just go around all willy-nilly and expect to be fine."

**(¯`·. Hp/Ss .·´¯)**

_**A/N: **_Taking a (hopefully) short break from this fic to work on an Xmas fic for a friend.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

Harry walked behind the woman from the day before - whose name was Sophie, he had learned - at a rather quick pace. They had been walking for nearly an hour now, and he wasn't too sure what direction they were going in. Even with the training his sense of direction was never good.

They reached Magi's Run, a small outdoor restaurant, and Sophie introduced him to a man named Jackal. Now Jackal wasn't the type of person to bother with small chit chat, so he said that Harry had best get to whatever he wanted to see him about before he got bored.

"I uh, I need you to help me locate someone. Cygnus Preece." Harry explained.

"Friend or foe?" Jackal asked. "And don't lie."

"Foe…"

Jackal nodded. "If I am to do locator spells that result in Mr. Preece's whereabouts, that will be a medium caliber favor. If he's unable to be found, in hiding with a secret keeper, then you shall only be required to give a low caliber favor."

"What kind of favor are we talking about here?" Harry asked curiously.

Jackal smiled. "Well that all depends, now doesn't it? I don't collect favors immediately afterwards, mind you, I collect them when I need them. Currently, I need no favor from you, so your tab will be kept open. Do not worry though, there will be no interest compounded, the favor will stay the same value no matter when I collect."

Harry eyed the man, but nodded his acceptance. Later that evening, they worked together along with four of Jackal's associates to locate Mr. Preece. Within an hour, they had narrowed down the man's location to a small, unidentified island off the eastern coast. Harry made the call to go in come nightfall.

As Jackal's end of the bargain was up, he said he was going to stay behind, unless Harry was willing to offer another medium caliber favor. Harry decided to go it alone though, wanting to owe the man as little as possible.

As Harry jumped from a small boat into the clear waters, and made his way to the tiny island's shore, his mind was torn between his family and this man. Something wasn't sitting right. Badbane had urged him to gather information before he flew off of the handle, and Harry had agreed only to get the centaur off of his case. He had no plans of getting any information as he knew that he was in the right. Preece was paranoid because he was doing something, probably something illegal, and his paranoia had caused him to attack Bill. Bill was near death when he was found, leaving Harry of the opinion that Preece deserved nothing less than death himself.

Climbing in through the window of the single house on the lonely island with a feather light charm on his feet, Harry pondered his situation and wondered if perhaps he ought to give the man a chance to tell him what was going on. As Harry's feet hit the floor, and his head raised to see Preece's sleeping form on the couch, his eyes caught sight of a moving picture of Kingsley Shacklebolt with darts in it. It was then that Harry decided this man deserved no chance to explain himself.

Creeping up on the snoring figure, Harry swiftly made his move. He withdrew his wand, zapped Preece with an avada kedavra killing him instantaneously, and went into phase 2 of a plan he didn't know he had. Harry grabbed the nearest parchment, rolled it up, and placed it close to the roaring fireplace. Just as an ember popped out on to the paper, it unraveled and flame caught to it. Harry saw the words and fragments, '-klebolt' 'plan' 'werewol-' and '-nocide', before the entire parchment burnt to a crisp.

As quickly as he could, before the flames reached Preece's side of the room, Harry grabbed several papers from where he'd gotten the first, and ran from the tiny house on the tiny island off the east coast of New Zealand.

Harry spent one last night to gather his thoughts and try to figure out why he felt so irritated with Preece's outcome. The man was dead. That was Harry's mission. He realized, around about 3 am that morning, as he lay awake in his bed, that he was dissatisfied with how Preece died. He had wanted to cause the man to suffer. He wanted blood. All he had was a news report from the muggles about a fire on a tiny island off the coast caused by a man who had fallen asleep with his fire going.

Jackal has assured Harry that he would be able to contact the young savior when he needed a favor, and Sophie had led him back to where he'd popped in his first day here. There were no emotional goodbyes, just some words of wisdom. "Use that necklace every chance you get. You'd be surprised what you could learn from the animals." Sophie informed him before pushing him into the green fire that led back home.

Harry managed to gracefully walk from his fireplace with several papers in his arms at 3 pm London time. Severus was the first to greet him. "How did it go?"

"Preece won't be bothering us anymore. He's gone for good." Harry informed him.

Bill, who was laying on their couch, smiled. "Thanks Harry." He said with a sigh of relief.

Harry nodded and grasped his papers. "Sev, I'm going back to the school. I need to get some things ready for tomorrow." He said. "You actually need to come as well."

Severus frowned. "Why would I do that? All of my classes are in order, I've-"

"You have that thing up in the corner on your ceiling that you need to fix." Harry said, giving him a look that demanded his compliance. "Remember?"

"Oh, yes. Nuisance that." Severus said with a nod of his head. They bid Bill adieu and made their way back to Hogwarts, where Severus crossed his arms over his chest. "I demand to know why you felt it necessary to lie to him."

"I found something in Preece's house." Harry told the man, walking off towards their chambers. "Something that you're gonna wanna see." He lay out the parchments on their table and stood back while Snape looked over them. Harry had no need to look over them, as he'd already read them in his hotel room.

_**and if he succeeds, it will be the end of all werewolves that we know of. I don't know how he's managed to convince one of the few living Potions Masters to work against one of the others, but he has. I am sure that the Potions Master developing the main serum is in on it, but the one working against him hasn't the faintest idea what he's developing the potion for. **_

_**I can't fathom why he's so specifically focused on werewolves though, he's never been bit to my knowledge. **_

The man lifted that parchment, and read on to the next.

_**mixed with that of the wolfsbane potion, it could cause catastrophic effects. Especially if the wolfsbane were to be finalized so it might only take one dose to keep the werewolf docile for the rest of its natural life. How he intends to gather all of the living werewolf population is beyond my knowledge, as word would spread quickly should this enhanced potion be given to one or two at first. After the first few deaths, werewolves would stop taking the potion, even at the promise of controlled lunar cycles. When they**_

Snape was reading faster now, more worried than he was before. He threw that parchment to the side and picked up the last.

_**I can't believe that bastard caught on to me! Someone I work with must have leaked the information to him. Surely he, Potter, and Snape are working together, I've seen them at the ministry far too often for it to be anything else. I fear he shall send Potter next, since that Weasley boy didn't pan out… I should have killed him when I had the chance instead of setting him free. I know that Weasley knew why he was sent to find me, I could see it in his eyes. **_

_**If he manages to succeed in eliminating the werewolves, who knows where he'll stop. He never stops to think that they're real people, just sees the beast side of them. That plan of his to allow them to marry witches and wizards to throw us off of his scent was positively brilliant. It cost me 3 of my colleagues. When he**_

The words stopped there. Snape looked to Harry, who was looking back with apprehension. "He's using me."

Harry nodded. "We have to hide Teddy, keep him away from Shacklebolt."

"Why?" Alden asked, coming into the room.

Harry spun around and sat on one of the parchments. "Aren't you supposed to be in class?"

"It's Sunday." Alden reminded him.

"Oh, right." Harry said shaking his head and rubbing his eyes.

"We have a problem." Severus interrupted.

Harry looked up to his husband. "What?"

"I've managed to isolate the issue I was previously having with the potion… and fix it… it will now work how we've been trying to get it to." Snape admitted.

"Well, we just don't send it to him." Harry said.

"That's the problem… I sent notice to him that it was complete about 10 minutes before you arrived."

Harry stared at the man, his eyes growing wider. He snapped his attention on task. "Severus, go destroy the potion and any notes you made on it. If you're unable to remember how to make it again, save a copy of the notes and we'll find somewhere to hide them. Alden, get your brother and bring him to Minnie's office. Well don't just stand there you two, hop to it!" Harry yelled, rushing from the room and heading to the headmistress' office as fast as he could go.

**(¯`·. Hp/Ss .·´¯)**

"I'm beginning to wish I'd never taken them on that stupid tour of the Chamber of Secrets." Harry complained. "I could have used it to hide Teddy."

"Yes well, what's done is done, and you can't change the past." Minerva told him, holding the toddler as he chewed on her robe. She looked at their surroundings and sighed. "This place is not good for someone of his age."

"Well this is the only place I own that the Minister doesn't know about." Harry told her, fiddling with the toddler's hair.

"I still don't understand why we're here." Alden said. "And since when is the Minister a bad guy?"

"Since we found out why Preece attacked Bill." Harry told the boy.

"So… Preece was a good guy?" Alden asked. "Doesn't that make Bill a bad guy?"

"I hope he wasn't a good guy…" He muttered. "It's a bit more complicated than that." Harry said, wishing not to speak about it anymore.

"Daddy." Teddy called, garnering everyone's attention. "Ow." He said, pointing to his mouth.

"Here, let me see." Harry said, arms outstretched.

"No!" Teddy demanded, hitting Minerva in the chest.

"Teddy! That's not nice. If it hurts, I need to see it so I can make it better." Harry tried to explain.

"No no NOOOO!" Teddy stated loudly, hitting the woman again.

"Ted Remus Lupin! You do not hit people." Harry scolded, picking the boy up. "What have we told you about hitting people?"

"No!" Teddy stated, his face red.

"Ted…" Harry said warningly.

The string of 'No's' continued well throughout the night, even after Minerva had left and Severus had come to join them. By the time Severus did arrive, Harry was at his wits ends and was just shy of casting a small level petrificus to hold the boy still so he could do something to alleviate the pain in his mouth. The conversation Snape walked in on was most interesting.

"Teddy, do you want it to hurt?"

"… no…"

"Then let me fix it."

"No!"

"If I don't do something, it will keep on hurtin- don't you bite my finger!"

"NOOO!"

"Is that all you can say?"

"No!"

"Teddy, I swear on Merlin's socks… if you don't let me fix it, you'll have a hurt mouth all night."

"NO!"

"Why not try getting him to sleep, then fix the issue?" Snape suggested, interrupting the two.

Harry looked up and hugged Severus' arm, Teddy still in his own arms. "How did it go?"

"I gave him a botched version of the potion." Snape told him. "It shan't take long before he realizes that he's been duped."

"What are we going to do?" Harry asked worriedly.

"Bad man." Teddy said. He looked to Severus and outstretched his arms. "Papa, ow."

Harry frowned and Severus curiously took Teddy into his own arms. The toddler pointed to his mouth and opened it, awaiting Severus to do whatever it he did to fix the pain.

"You want me to fix it?" Severus asked the child.

"Uh huh." Teddy agreed, mouth still wide open.

Severus made quick work of the toddler's ailment, and put the child to bed. When he came back out, Harry was sitting on the floor in front of the fireplace, staring into it. Severus sighed. "What's wrong?"

"He wouldn't let me touch him. He squirmed to get loose when I held him. He didn't want me to fix it…" Harry looked up at the man. "What have I done wrong?" He could feel his eyes stinging and threatening to let loose those obnoxious things humans called tears.

"I've no idea… Perhaps… perhaps it's because I was the one who was here and doing things for him for so long." Severus suggested. "I'm sure it means nothing."

"Nothing?" Harry asked, standing up and glaring at the man. He was so caught up in the moment that he didn't realize Alden had woken up and come out of his room, currently hiding behind the wall in the hallway of Harry's family safe house. "It means nothing to you that a child blatantly prefers one parent over the other? It means nothing to you that I'm obviously doing something wrong? I should have never went away for so long, he's detached from me. This is my fault… I should have spent my time worrying about whether or not his and my relationship would last a year apart, not ours." Harry flopped on to the couch and let his tears fall. "I'm a bad father."

Alden's eyes widened as he watched Severus try to comfort the young professor. He slunk back to his room and locked his door. Had he really been showing favoritism? He hadn't thought he had, hell, he had thought that he liked them both equally. Clearly Harry thought it was his own fault for this, but it had to have been Alden's, if he was blatantly preferring Snape over Potter. He had to show Harry that he cared. He had to show him that he wasn't just interested in what one parent had to offer. He had to do better.

The boy resolved that he would spend time with Harry… unless… that is, unless Harry decided that he didn't want Alden anymore. The boy's eyes slammed shut. What if Harry saw him as expendable? What if he was shipped off to a school in another country, or what if Harry and Snape moved to another country and left him there? Alden shivered. He would run away before he would let the Ministry get hold of him, especially if Shacklebolt was one of the bad guys.

**(¯`·. Hp/Ss .·´¯)**

_**A/N: **_Sorry it took me so long to update. My little break turned into a long break. No worries, I'm back now, though I don't know if I'll be updating as regularly as I used to, I hope to be updating it more often


	15. Chapter 15

_**A/N: **_JerryJean; you made my birthday (the 25th) a very happy day. Thank you. 3 Also, thank you Alex Day for the portrait idea. It was just what I needed.

**Chapter 15**

"Alden, we need to talk." Harry prompted the boy the next morning.

Alden had barely gotten any sleep at all the night before, instead choosing to stay up all night worrying of what he had to have been doing wrong. "W-what about?" Alden asked, pulling out a chair to take a seat.

"About you." Severus told him from the stove. He was cooking breakfast for all of them. "Over the next… well… we don't know precisely how long it will be, but it shouldn't take more than two months, Harry, Teddy, and I aren't going to be around much."

"We're going to be staying here most of the time. You still need to go to school though, we can't let you miss out on your education, plus you'll be safer there." Harry told him.

Alden frowned. His worst fears were coming true way faster than he'd anticipated… they were leaving him at Hogwarts. "Safer without you two?"

Harry nodded. "We'll still see you when we teach, but of the evenings and weekends, we will be here."

Alden looked slightly horrified and Harry went on to explain that he hadn't done anything wrong, he simply needed to be in a place that was safe from someone who might become a possible enemy. While Minerva could not stop the Minister from coming onto Hogwarts grounds to conduct official business, she could keep him from making personal calls to the people there. More importantly, Harry wasn't too sure that Shacklebolt would think to kidnap Alden and see about Teddy's werewolf issue… considering that the man had no earthly idea that Teddy even possessed such abilities.

After hearing all of this, Alden wasn't sure whether or not to go with his gut instinct – which was to run away because his parents seemed like they were abandoning him – or to go with his logical mind – which was to do as he was told because they made a very compelling argument. He simply nodded and was whisked off back to Hogwarts.

Severus looked to his husband and sighed. "I'll cover for you; we'll tell the rest of the staff that you've come down with something highly contagious and can't come in today, that I will have to make a potion for it. I'll conveniently catch it whilst healing you, and having only made enough for you, that will give me at least two days here where you will cover for me. Think we can get everything we need done in that time?"

Harry thought for a moment then nodded his agreement. "It should be simple enough. I'll call Molly and tell her babysitting is off for the next 3 days."

Severus left their safe house to go and teach. Harry spent most of the morning carrying Teddy around on his hip and teaching him the alphabet. In the short time that they spent working on it, Teddy had graduated from 'A, B, C, D, Q, P, L', to, 'A, B, C, D, E, P, W'.

Once it was time for Teddy's nap, harry put the toddler in his incredibly tiny bed and turned out the light. Teddy's eyes seemed to shimmer in the darkness, Harry noted as he left the room. The young man slid on to the couch and sighed. So much to do, yet he had no ideas on where to start.

He could make a list of the things that needed to be done to find out what the Minister was planning. He could make a list of ways to get a truth serum into the Minister. He could try to sneak in a suspicion at his upcoming meeting that Teddy is exhibiting some werewolf symptoms and he wonders if the boy might simply be a late bloomer; though that idea would put unwanted stress on Harry and Severus trying to keep the boy safe. He could even talk to Bill and see what he knew.

Now there was an idea. Bill might know why Preece thought the Minister had sent him to find the man. Harry still wasn't decided on what to believe; on the one hand, Bill swore up and down that he wasn't the one at fault and it had all been a misunderstanding. On the other hand, one of Preece's pages had Bill sighted several times around the man, and that couldn't simply be coincidence.

Harry floo-called the Weasleys for the second time that day. He was surprised to find that Bill wasn't staying there anymore; he had gone back to France stopped receiving floo-calls from his family. Apparently they had gotten into a fight and that was why Molly had sounded so upset earlier.

When Harry tried calling the man himself, he found that his floo was also on the – for lack of a better term – blocked list. He sighed and found his way back to the couch. Suddenly his floo flared to life. "Harry? Harry! Harry come here please." Alden's voice called.

"What is it?" Harry asked moving towards the flaring green flame.

Alden rustled something and pushed a rectangle up to the heatless fire. "This!" He said worriedly.

"Alden, I can't see what that is in a floo call. You have to send it to me." Harry told him.

"There is no way I am allowing him to send that through." Severus said from the background.

Harry sighed. "Alright, let me get Teddy and-"

"No!" Alden and Severus both replied. Severus came forward and put his own head into the flames. "I'll come there to watch him then you come here. Move."

A quick switch was performed, Harry being most confused throughout it. He found himself in the Headmistress' office with a worried looking Alden and McGonagall with her head in her hands. What could have happened?

Harry's eyes were drawn down to what Alden was holding, and they widened substantially. Alden looked up at Harry. "This is the man I've been dreaming about." He said lowly. "I didn't know he was real."

Harry swallowed thickly and looked to Alden's face. "How long have you been dreaming about him?"

"Since… since I moved in with you and Severus… the second night I spent the night in your rooms." He admitted.

"Who found this?" Harry asked, fearing the answer.

"I did." Alden said.

Harry looked once more at the portrait and sighed. A young Tom riddle waved back at him and smirked. "Have I become the supreme ruler yet?" The portrait asked. "These two wouldn't answer my question."

Harry glared. "No, you're dead and all of your horcruxes have disappeared."

The portrait smiled slyly. "Not all of them, I can guarantee it."

"The diary, the ring, the locket, the cup, the diadem, the one inside of me, and the snake. Yes, all destroyed." Harry told him.

Tom's eyebrows furrowed and he crossed his arms. "I was sure nobody would expect the diadem. And when did I put one in you?"

"Long story, I don't want to share it. Minnie, can I take this out back and burn it?" He asked.

"I've tried." She told him. "It won't burn. The paint doesn't run when submerged in water. Every spell I've thrown at the blasted thing doesn't work. The only good that comes out of this is that he can't roam to another portrait, nor can any other come in this one."

Harry rand his hand through his hair and sighed. "We'll find a way to destroy it."

"Wait." Alden interrupted. "Maybe you can use it." When the Headmistress and his father gave him the most curious of looks, he continued. "Your red eye thing."

Harry's eyes lit up. "That's a good idea."

Severus' head appeared back in the fire. "I need to get to class." He reminded everyone. "I have to teach in 10 minutes."

They switched themselves back around, and Harry snuck the portrait with him in the confusion. It was just a portrait, it wasn't like it could harm Teddy, plus he needed to see if he could learn anything from it.

Harry set the portrait up in a chair and sat on the sofa. He interlaced his fingers and stared at it from under his eyebrows. "What do you know about yourself?"

The portrait looked back at him. "Oh are we talking to me now? I thought you wanted to destroy me."

"I do, and I will. First, I want to know a few things. What do you know about yourself?" He repeated.

"Oh all sorts of things." The portrait replied. He glanced at his nails as if checking their cleanliness. "But if I'm to tell you anything, I want to know some things. Like why I would ever make something like _you _my horcrux."

"It was an accident." Harry told him. "You meant to kill me, but it backfired and you killed yourself. A portion of your soul wound up inside of me and I became a horcrux." Harry told him. "Your turn. What do you know about yourself?"

"Lots of things. I would visit myself often up until about 18 or 19 years ago then I just stopped." The man in the portrait gave a minute look of disgust then went back to normal. "How many people did I kill?"

"Hundreds, mostly muggles being tortured. What was that look about?"

"I don't know what look you're talking about." Tom replied, crossing his arms.

"The one you gave when you were talking about- oh just tell me what it was about. It's not like you can do anything."

Tom seemed to consider this and eventually sighed. "You're right, I can't. How, though, do I know that you're not lying to me and I'm not really ruling the world at the moment?"

Harry was about to respond that he could look into a pensive, however he quickly realized that there was no possible way that could happen. He didn't know of any spells to show a memory within a room, nor did he know of anyone who could make something that complicated, not even his Severus.

Voldemort's body had been burned when he died, and nobody had put up any sort of memorial for him. He supposed he might shrink the portrait a bit and wrap it in his invisibility clo- no, that wouldn't work in the least. The cloak was far too large.

Harry sighed once more. "I've no idea how to prove it to you. You will just have to trust me."

The portrait shrugged and looked around as if looking for other people. "I gave that look because I watched myself go insane." He replied honestly. "I was a bit relieved when I stopped visiting myself."

Harry frowned. "Will that… will I go insane?" He asked.

"Why would you?"

Harry then set in to explain to the portrait about the siphoning and his blood lust. He explained about the thrill of the chase and absolute fun he had when his victim was scared witless. He even got a bit carried away and went into one of his fantasies.

When he was done, Tom simply shook his head and rubbed at his temple. It was silent for a bit, then he laughed. He tilted his head back and laughed uproariously at the entire situation. Finally he wiped at his eyes to stop the tears of hilarity from running down and nodded. "Yes, yes you will go insane… in fact… you've already begun." He laughed once more.

Harry didn't like this answer and he didn't like how the portrait responded to it. He pointed his wand at the portrait and cast a spell he wasn't even aware he knew. "Noralid!" The portrait stopped moving and emitting a sound in mid-laugh. The color seemed to drain from it until it became no more than barely visible. The figure of Tom Riddle seemed to be painted of as if with… normal muggle paint.

The young man threw the portrait into the fire and smirked as it burnt to a crisp. He should call Hogwarts and tell McGonagall that he'd managed to destroy the thing.

When he was done with that, he could feel the effects he normally felt before he wound himself up into a red state. He wasn't sure if the fact that his memory was coming back easier from what he did during this state was a good thing or a bad thing. He mused that perhaps this was good as he was finally getting to the point that he needn't ask what had happened when he went over the edge, but at the same time… remembering everything… He shivered and put this from his mind.

It was simply a matter of control as Macoval has stated before. Control and release in the appropriate settings. As long as he could control himself around those brain-dead peons who fancied they were learning anything whilst they mucked about when they were supposed to be- wait… _What am I thinking? _He demanded of himself. _These are students, they aren't like that._

The young man wondered if perhaps the portrait was right and he _was _going crazy... He shook his head and decided that simply couldn't be the case, if he was going insane, Severus would have said something by now.

Teddy's cries from the other room startled him, and he went to see what was wrong whilst forming a plan to see precisely what Kingsley was up to.

**(¯`·. Hp/Ss .·´¯)**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: **Sorry this took so long, I've been derping around on TF2 and SL for the last… month… I swear this story will be completed, even if I have to set some sort of nanny-device on my computer and make some sites and games off-limits for certain time periods. O.O;

**Chapter 16**

Harry was going covertly into a meeting with the Minister of Magic. With Severus' help, he had been polyjuiced to look like one of his male students, glamoured to look female with the same basic shape, and had Luna over to apply makeup to his face and watch Teddy while he was gone. He found that putting on makeup… was not fun. The constant poking of pencils on your eyes and tweezing eyebrow hair… he wasn't sure what he'd look like when he came out of this.

He found out just how privileged he was when it came to meetings with the Minister. Severus had to pull strings to get 'Evette' to see the man, and even then everyone was less than thrilled to see him. The security was tighter, people were rude, and when he _finally _got into the same room with the man, Shacklebolt had 3 guards in there with him to ensure 'she' didn't try anything.

Luckily the boy whose hair he had taken was a transfer student from France, so the potion worked to give him a French accent. He used this to his advantage. "Monsieur Shacklebolt… Monsieur Weasley contacted me and told me zat you might 'ave a job opening for me."

Kingsley raised an eyebrow and leaned in. "Which Weasley?"

"Bill." Harry replied. He looked down at his nails which were varying lengths and mostly long while he tried to look bored. "He said zat you needed someone to take 'is place while he recovered." Kingsley leaned back and gave a look that said he was less than amused. "Crap." Harry said, his eyes widening. "I 'ave messed eet up. He said not to say Bill, oh what was eet?" He grabbed a handful of his own hair and groaned, simultaneously using legilimency to lightly probe the Minister's mind. "Oh! He told me to call 'im Achille. I am so sorry Monsieur; sometimes I forget what to call people." Thank Merlin he could do that without being detected anymore.

The Minister smirked and looked interested once more. "Bad with names, are you?"

"Yes, terribly so." Harry said, feigning an apologetic look. "Sometimes I even forget my own."

"What uh, what all did he tell you about the position?" Shacklebolt asked.

Harry couldn't believe it. This was happening. Bill had been working with the Minister for something and was stalking Preece. "Uh, only zat you needed a temporary replacement and-" He swung around and grabbed the wand from a fourth guard who had entered the room and was sneaking up on him. He pointed the man's wand at his own throat and glared. "What is zis?" He demanded.

Kingsley was grinning from ear to ear. "That was a test. You passed." He nodded towards the slightly shaking guard who promptly couldn't believe that he'd just been bested by a _girl_. "You didn't finish your sentence though, what after the replacement?"

Harry snarled and snapped the wand over his knee before returning his gaze towards the man. "Zat I would 'ave to leave as soon as he got better."

Kingsley nodded and stood. "Well, let's do it this way. If you can best me in a duel, then I will gladly take you on as his replacement. If not, you will be obliviated and I-"

Before he could finish that sentence, Harry had his wand at the man's throat. "You vill not try to touch my memory unless you want to be crucio'd to the point of insanity and 'ave your limbs ripped from your body." He said lowly. His stomach was knotting and he could feel the effects of the potion beginning to wear off.

The Minister smirked as his guards all positioned around Harry with their wands pointed at his head. "My dear Evette, we shall meet again to discuss your position here. Tomorrow at 3." He said before disappearing from the room. It wasn't apparation nor was it a port-key, and Harry had no idea _what _it was.

The young man simply growled a bit and apparated from the room, leaving his decoy wand with the security and going to France, where he port-keyed to Italy, apparated to New Zealand, and floo'd to Hogwarts. The first place he went into was Severus' room as the last remains of the polyjuice potion and glamour faded. He sighed and sat down on the couch, his hands combing through his hair which was in terrible need of cutting. "I wanted to kill him." He said, trembling a bit as Severus sat down beside him. "I wanted to crucio him and rip his arms from his body."

"What did he do?" Snape asked, unsure if he wanted the answer.

"He followed protocol and ensured I knew there was a chance I would be obliviated if I worked for him." Harry said, leaning back and slouching. "I imagined it when I threatened him… I imagined him bordering on insanity and weeping as I physically pulled his arm from his socket." He looked to his lover pleadingly. "What's wrong with me?"

Snape looked down showing a timid nature that he rarely – if ever – showed to anyone. "You're losing your mind." He said in a near whisper.

"Excuse me?" Harry asked, affronted.

"You're literally going insane." Severus repeated, angrier this time. "I've looked in countless books while you were away, after that day… the one with Alden… I keep hoping it's not the case, but it is!" He stood and started pacing. "They all go back to the same thing; Slytherin's locket. It was charmed with something and when Voldemort took it and turned it into a horcrux, he absorbed that something. The locket has been destroyed since then so the spell can't be reversed and I don't know what to do!" He looked towards Harry in a defeated way. "Even Miss Granger can't figure the blasted thing out. First the Dark Lord went insane, then you took it along with his power, and now it's turning you!" The man snapped his wand towards a decorative vase and destroyed it before walking towards the door. He stopped in the frame with his hand resting against the hard wood, not looking back. "Alden's missing… nobody knows where he went." He said before billowing off.

**(¯`·. Hp/Ss .·´¯)**

"ALDEN!" Harry yelled frantically. It was dark and he was in the forbidden forest as that was where he used to run to during school. He wasn't sure if Alden would do the same, however he hoped. It was cold and Christmas break would start in a few days. He couldn't understand why Alden would run away at a time like this – unless he was kidnapped. A shiver of fear ran through his spine and he shook that thought away. It wouldn't do to think about any of his children getting kidnapped.

"Alden?" Then there was what Severus had said… He wasn't going insane, he couldn't be. He had control over this, over the bloodlust, over the turning all red-eyed… Hell, he had total control over his sleeping habits, he should have control over all this too. Plus, if he were actually going insane, Severus would have sai-… He would have said something earlier, like when he first noticed it.

"Alden?" Harry sighed and glanced around. Maybe Severus didn't say anything before because he was hoping he was wrong. His eyes darted towards movement in the trees, but it turned out to be some strange type of bird that he wasn't familiar with. _I really don't have time for this. _He thought, growing more irritated by the second. If Alden wasn't in trouble and was just being rebellious… _I barely have time enough for day-to-day life without all of this going on. I have to drop the tutoring, they're just going to have to learn from some better students. I'll tell Minerva about that when I see her next. Then I_-

The young man nearly tripped over something, he was so wrapped up in his thoughts. He glanced down, ready to kick a rock or some such thing out from his path. His eyes widened at what he saw. "Alden?" He whispered, reaching down and turning the lump of cloth over. "Oh my god, Alden!" Harry said frantically, dropping to his knees and shaking the boy by the shoulder.

A thought, 'Lumos', lit up the area and Harry nearly jumped back at what he saw. He scooped the unmoving boy up and ran as fast as he could towards the castle, making it in record time. Bursting through the grand front doors and into the main corridor, he look a left turn and went straight down into the dungeons, running head first into what appeared to be a wall, but was in fact a passageway to the Ravenclaw common room and closer to the infirmary.

"Poppy! Floo Severus and Minerva, get a pepperup, a blood replenishing potion, a wiggenweld, and tell Severus to bring some raw aconite!" He yelled as he burst into the hospital wing. The medi-witch shook, startled by his sudden outburst, but quickly moved into gear doing as she was told. Harry lay the boy down in the first bed he came to, ripping the robe down the center and pulling his arms out of it. "_Vulnera Sanentur… Tergeo._" He said loudly over the boy's body.

The first spell worked ease up the flow of blood, but since these wounds weren't created by dark magic, it would do no more than that. The second spell cleaned the dirt and dried blood from the boy's wounds and caused him to flinch in his unconscious state. "Oh god oh god… POPPY! Bring some skele-gro too!" He called.

The medi witch and Severus both rushed over to Alden's bed at roughly the same time, followed shortly by the Headmistress. Poppy was busy tending to the child; forcing potions down his throat. "Minerva!" Harry barked. "How many werewolves reside on Hogwarts property?"

"Besides Ted? None. And don't use that tone with me, mister."

"Shit… How easy would it be for one to sneak on to the property?" harry demanded.

"Very hard. Virtually nobody can come onto Hogwarts grounds without my knowing about it." She replied, going over to Alden and gasping at what she saw.

Severus had forgotten he was carrying the aconite in his hand for a moment, but quickly regained himself. "What is all of this about werewolves? Why did I bring the wolfsbane? What's happened to Alden?" He demanded, all in one breath. He glanced over to the boy laying on the bed and frowned. "How can you be sure a werewo-"

"Don't patronize me, I've lived with the bloody things for a year now, I damn well know what werewolf scratches looks like." Harry said with a low growl then snapped his head towards the bed and nearly fell as he ran over to it. "Rub the aconite into the wound Sev; Poppy, check and see if he has any bite marks anywhere on him." He ordered, lifting up Alden's head and flicking his writs towards it causing a parchment to appear hovering above the child.

Severus did _not _like being spoken to that way and he bloody well would not put up with it from anyone, not even Harry. His retort would simply have to wait for now though, as the boy needed attending to badly.

**(¯`·. Hp/Ss .·´¯)**

"What do you mean, you can't grow them back? It's Skele-Gro!" Harry demanded.

"I mean without the flesh and muscle there for the bone to grow in to, it's impossible for any spell or potion that I know of to grow an entire limb, no matter the size." She responded hotly; her face red.

"Those aren't limbs, they're incredibly small appendages, it's not like-"

"Oh do shut up and listen to the woman." Severus snarled. "He's going to have to learn to live without a few fingers. It's doable."

"Like you've ever had a limb detached!" Harry huffed.

"Oh, **now** it's a limb, earlier it was just an 'incredibly small appendage'. Stop changing your view on the situation to suit what you want." Severus told him coldly.

"FINE! Whatever, we'll let him decide on whether or not he demands some sort of reattachment or not." Harry compromised. He turned his wrath on to Minerva, who was doing her best to sit there and be quiet to keep attention from herself. "I want to know how a werewolf got onto campus." He demanded.

Minerva bristled at the implied accusation. "It's like Severus said earlier when he checked the wards around the grounds, there is no possible way that a werewolf could have gotten in without my knowing!"

"THEN WHO DID YOU LET IN?" Harry demanded, his own face going red.

Alden swallowed thickly from his bed, keeping his eyes firmly glued shut as they continued arguing. He didn't understand why everyone was so angry. He knew that he was hurt; granted he didn't know how he had gotten into such a state. He thought that he knew it had something to do with a werewolf, but weren't the werewolves and Harry supposed to be on the same side?

"That's IT!" Severus shouted, standing up fully and towering over Harry. "I didn't want to do this, but that blasted centaur was right. You need to CALM THE HELL DOWN! We'll find someone to cover for you!" He thrust a small gemstone into Harry's hand and whispered something, activating the port-key and watching as Harry disappeared from the room. Sinking back into his chair, he sighed and rubbed at his temple. "I hope to Merlin this works."

"What was that?" Minerva asked, giving a sideways nod towards the bedridden boy who was peering at them; out of Snape's range of vision.

"A port-key." Severus explained. "Firenze gave it to me saying it was from Badbane and to use it if Harry started acting… out of sorts – not in the normal way." He lowered his head and rubbed at both temples. "I fear for our relationship if this keeps up." He said softly.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

Harry woke up in a strange place… The last thing he remembered, he and Severus were having an argument and the man thrust a gemstone into his hands which transported him here… and he was subsequently knocked out. He blinked and looked around, feeling the thing that he was laying on. It was smooth and scaly. He thought a quick 'Lumos', but… it didn't work.

He frowned and nearly jolted when he felt his 'bed' move. Quickly as he could he scrambled off of it and came face to face with a full grown- "Norberta?" He reached to his neck and felt, realizing that the pendant which would allow his communication with the beast was gone. "Crap… Hey Norberta, it's Harry, remember me?" He asked cautiously, backing away lightly.

The dragon simply huffed and lay her head down. A voice came from behind. "She knows you, else she would have eaten you by now." He said.

Harry spun around coming face to face with Badbane. "Where's my necklace?"

"I've taken it back… You haven't visited Norberta of your own accord, you were forced here, therefore you've shown that you truly don't care enough of your family's safety to-"

"I DO CARE!" Harry shouted angrily. The anger quickly faded to sadness and he lowered his head. "I do care… I don't… I don't know what's wrong with me, or even how to fix it."

Badbane slowly trotted up to the young man and lifted his head. "The first step to fixing a problem is admitting you have one."

"I'm not insane." Harry growled lowly.

"You aren't?" Badbane asked simply.

"Oh yeh, I'm soooo insane I need a loony bin." Harry retorted sarcastically, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"You are?"

"Don't fuck with me right now, I'm not in the mood." The young man warned.

"I am simply asking for clarification, nothing more."

"You really know how to push peoples' buttons, don't you?" He tried to pull a fierce face, but wound up cracking and falling to his knees. "I can't help it, all I think about… just killing and death and blood and the chase, it's so enthralling." His hands shook as his woes came spilling out. "My mind is just constantly riddled with it, when a student talks out of turn I wonder what they would think if they got a proper beating for it. When another staff member goes and takes one of my slots for something, I imagine how they would like it if I just filled their mouths with scorpions or cricio'd them… I can't… I just can't." He raised his head and looked towards Badbane with pleading eyes. "Fix me."

"There is nothing any human or centaur can do to fix you Mr. Potter." Badbane told the broken young man in front of him. "There is, however, something a dragon can do."

Harry sniffed and jolted up. "Norberta? That's why you wanted me to visit her?" He asked, wiping at his face and looking towards the resting dragon.

"Indeed it is, but without the necklace, telling her the problem might be harder than anticipated." Badbane warned.

Harry looked positively outraged. _I ought to teach that blasted centaur a lesson and-_

"By the way, you will find that while you are here, you cannot use any magic whatsoever. Only once you step outside of this cave may you use it." The centaur informed him whilst handing him the necklace back then trotting away. "It will disappear the next time you take it off." He called over his shoulder. Norberta quickly positioned herself in front of the cave's mouth and stared at Harry.

**(¯`·. Hp/Ss .·´¯)**

Alden looked out of a window from his bed. His arm was laying softly across his stomach; any higher and he would risk hurting his wounds again. Both of his hands were bandaged and he could feel either of them thanks to some salve that Poppy had put on them. He sighed as Severus stopped talking. "I told you, I don't remember anything… I was taking a walk in the Forbidden Forest to clear my head, and I got knocked out." He mumbled.

Severus sighed and massaged his forehead. "Why would you choose to walk in such a dangerous area to begin with?" He asked.

"I don't know, it's just where I go!" Alden snapped.

"For the love of… this is just like trying to talk to Potter when he was your age…" Severus growled under his breath.

"Don't call him that!" Alden demanded, sitting up and groaning at the pain in his chest. "He's Harry, he always will be Harry." He said defensively.

Severus wanted to snap at the boy, to yell at him for meddling in others' affairs, but he realized that this was his business, this was the family's business. He sighed and slumped his shoulders. "I've gone so soft." He mumbled before clearing his throat and trying to explain things the best he could. "When I refer to him as, 'Potter', it's normally when I'm remember how he was in school… It's hard for me to associate the child I taught with the man I love. Potter and Harry might as well be two different people to me."

"You still love him?" Alden asked worriedly, his eyebrows going oblique.

"Of course I do, why wouldn't I?" Severus wondered.

Alden quickly lowered his head and swallowed. "Well, when you shoved that port-key into his hand it didn't sound like y-"

"You were awake for that?" Severus asked, slightly horrified.

"Y-yeah… It didn't sound like you felt much of anything for him besides anger then."

Severus sighed once more and rested his hand on the boy's arm. "I was angry with him, yes. I was also worried for you, worried for him, and worried for Teddy. It was very stressful, but he needed to go calm down."

"Where did you send him?" Alden asked.

"I'm not sure… Badbane would know, but he wasn't in when I floo'd to tell him I'd used the port-key."

Alden moved his hand lightly and frowned. "Why can't I feel my hands?" He asked, trying to change the subject.

Poppy tsk'd from a nearby bed that she was making up. "No need to worry about that dear." She said.

"He's going to find out, you can't just keep putting him to sleep, plus he needs his hands to use his wand." Severus informed her.

"Find out what?" Alden asked. He had only woken up the night before when Harry had demanded to know who Minerva had 'let in', so he didn't hear what was mentioned merely moments before.

Severus sighed and flicked his wand at the boy's hands sending a whispered banishing spell towards the wraps. Alden's eyes widened and he swallowed thickly, his body shaking just a bit as he brought his hands up to his face.

He was missing his right ring finger, his left forefinger, and his left pinky. His eyes darted quickly between the spaces where fingers once resided and he took in a shuddering breath, looking up pleadingly and silent towards Severus.

Severus cleared his throat. "We don't know where they went…. Poppy did the best she could to heal the, er, nubs… but without the muscle and flesh there, the bone can't grow with the skele-gro… Miss Granger is researching ways to fix this now."

**(¯`·. Hp/Ss .·´¯)**

"-so you see my problem…" Harry told Norberta whilst fingering his necklace nervously.

"Young human, I can fix your ailments." Norberta informed him. "It shall come at a price however, one which you will not like."

"Anything, just make it stop!" Harry pleaded. She began to inform him of what was going to happen, however he hastily begged that she just do whatever it was she was going to do.

The dragon nodded her head softly and started breathing very hard causing smoke to waft from her nostrils. She waved her wings lightly to make the smoke gather around Harry. "Breathe it in, dear friend." Harry took in as deep of a breath of the smoke as he could and promptly went into a coughing fit, falling to the ground and nearly choking. "Most of your magic and part of your mind will be erased." Harry's eyes widened and he shook his head no, but she went on, continuing to spew smoke. "As you trained with your wolf friends using magic that too shall be erased. For one moon cycle, you be magically as an infant. After that, your ability will return to its normal state, before you killed your nemesis. You will, however, have to be retaught every charm, hex, curse, and potion, as those will be erased for good until you relearn them. Sleep now, and know that when you awaken, all will be well."

Harry's coughing and wheezing subsided as his eyes rolled back in his head. Norberta nosed the unconscious body and gracefully hooked one of her teeth around his necklace, pulling it off and causing it to disappear. She then picked him up gently in her mouth and carried him out of the cave and towards a sparkling pond in an unplotted bit of wizarding land in the middle of the island they were on.

She hovered over the pond, dropping Harry into its center and ensuring that he floated on his back, then went to the water's edge and stuck her snout in. Slowly but surely, the water started warm up as her forced fire raised its temperature, and as soon as the bubbles surfaced she stopped heating it. She wrapped her tail around his mouth and nose and drug him under the water as it turned from a beautiful glittering light blue to a menacing dark purple. She only held his body underneath for a few seconds, then pulled him from it and rested him on her back.

The purple water changed color once more to a dark red similar to blood. It churned and rolled angrily and the dragon lifted the young man's body once more by the feet using her tail and dunked him into the water three times. Finally, soaking wet and barely breathing, she surrounded Harry once more with her smoke. When it dissipated, she pulled him on to a fairly smooth rock and roared, activating the magic stored within that was a port-key designed by Badbane.

Harry popped in to the Hogwarts infirmary soaked and dripping with red water that was too thin to be mistaken for blood. His body fell from the air on to the floor in a heap, startling Severus and Alden from their one-sided conversation. Poppy quickly rushed over and pulled him on to a bed just as Kingsley walked into the room. "Severus, why hasn't your friend Evette come to our appointment?" He asked, barely glancing towards the wizards lying in the beds.

Severus narrowed his eyes and shook his head. "I don't know, and as you can tell, my son and my husband are lying here in dire need of care. I don't think they need visitors at the moment." He said with a warning tone.

Kingsley gave his own stare and nodded once before leaving the ward to go speak with Minerva again. Severus looked to Poppy who was fussing over Harry. "What the hell happened to him?"

"For Merlin's sake, Severus, every time you're in here I have to remind you to watch your language. You'd think after some 30-odd years you would know better by now… As for your question, I have no idea what happened to him, give me time!" She snapped.

The medi-witch quickly cast a few diagnostic spells on him to find that everything that could be physically wrong with him… wasn't. He wasn't sick, he wasn't exhausted, he surprisingly wasn't half drowned, and he wasn't even slightly bruised. The only thing that appeared to be wrong was that he was unconscious. She went for the old fashioned route and felt his forehead, checked his pulse, and again, everything seemed fine. When she peeled open his left eye to check his pupils with a lumos from her wand, she jumped back at what she saw.

"What is it?" Severus asked, standing up. Alden was clenching what fingers he had left and leaning in towards Harry's bed, having not said a word since his bandages came off.

"His eyes… they're… I don't know! I've never seen anything like it." She replied, her voice quivering.

Severus went over to Harry's still form and lifted an eyelid, jolting in shock. Instead of moving back, however, he leaned forward. "How is this even possible?" He muttered. "It looks like the color is- is boiling?"

Sure enough, Harry's emerald green irises were replaced mostly with the red that he normally sported when 'out of it'. The color, however, appeared to be moving and it was as if Severus were staring into a boiling red potion with green specks and a black orb in the middle. His pupils were responsive to light, as they contracted when Severus cast his own lumos, and went back to normal once the wand was taken away.

As each second passed a tiny smidge more green showed up amidst the swirling angry red, and for a brief moment Severus' mind went towards the Christmas holidays which were starting tomorrow. He watched in slight fascination as the red seemed to literally boil out of the young man's eyes, releasing Harry's lid every few seconds so it wouldn't dry out.

What a Christmas Present… A son who is depressed thanks to losing his fingers, a husband who is out cold for no known reason after returning from something a blasted centaur that he didn't even know had set up, a broken hearted set of Weasleys thanks to Bill, and a Minister of Magic who was surely plotting something, only they had no idea what. Yes, this was turning out to be one hell of a Christmas.

A gentle snow started to fall, the drifting flakes catching Severus' eye. He glanced out of the window and watched in silence as Harry slept and Alden fell into slumber himself. Closing his eyes, the man made a wish for the first time in years. He wished simply that his family, close and extended, would feel better. He wished that Hermione would dig up some sort of cure for Alden's missing fingers. He wished that Luna would show up with Teddy so he could-

"You want to hold him?" Luna's voice rang out behind him.

Severus was startled, but he didn't show it in the least. He faced the girl and a soft smiles graced his lips. "Yes, please." He said, holding his arms out towards the sleeping boy. "You're getting a bit heavy to hold all the time, aren't you?" He said softly, brushing the toddler's hair from his face. He glanced up to the blonde temporary babysitter. "How did you know?"

Luna simply shrugged and smiled, then skipped off with the excuse that she didn't want to leave Dudley alone for another night, as he had floo'd her with the news that little Lily was trying to crawl around their carpet and was being generally adorable and she just HAD to see it. Dudley was a bit of a Dadzilla.

Severus let out a sigh and lay Teddy down with Alden, as he wasn't sure what kind of state Harry would wake up in. As if being summoned by his thoughts, Harry groaned lightly as Severus was tucking Alden's arm around Teddy. The man went over to Harry's bedside, a worried look, "Harry?" He asked softly.

The younger man lolled his head to the side as his eyelids flew open. He looked around and sighed with relief. "The infirmary… Thank Merlin." He looked to Severus and smiled briefly, however that smile was soon replaced with a worried look. "What's wrong?"

"Your left eye." The Slytherin told him. "It's rather… odd." He conjured a mirror for the young man to look in to.

Harry jumped back a bit and put his fingers to the corner of his eye. A small sliver of the iris was red, just the one bit. "Oh, we need to floo Hermione." He said suddenly, looking back towards Severus. He rapped lightly on his own head and smiled a bit. That smile, however, quickly formed into a frown as he remembered all of the senseless killing he had done over the last two years, all of the animals which he needed none of their meat, Preece, everything. The only one he didn't regret to some degree was Muertof. He lay back down and curled up on his side. "I can't use my magic." He said.

Severus was startled by the admission and even more worried by Harry's actions. "Why?" He asked simply, not know what else to say.

"For a month… I'll have the magic level I had as a baby. If I use any magic, no matter how small, I'll never get it all back…" Harry explained.

"What happens after the month?" Severus asked, worried for his husband's sanity.

"My magic returns to the level it was at right before I killed Voldemort… I… I'll have to re-learn every last spell and potion that I knew." Ugh, he felt utterly useless. They were right at a peak in everything, especially danger. He really couldn't afford to lose his magic for a month, especially since he was supposed to be teaching _with _the magic to begin with.

"Harry… I think that it's best you stop teaching." Severus said lightly, wondering if his husband would snap.

"I think you're right." Harry said sadly. "I can't very well teach when I have no access to my magic and don't know any of the stuff I am supposed to be teaching…" The young man sniffled lightly and squeezed his eyes shut. "I guess I'll tell Minerva and head back to the manor tonight." He said softly.

"You're not… angry?" Severus asked as carefully as he could.

"A little… at myself." Harry admitted. This would be a long road that he had to travel when this month was up. He wondered briefly if the red sliver in his left eye was a permanent thing, or if it would leave as well.


End file.
